Treasure Of Yours
by Crazy anime chick since 1993
Summary: Mizuki Tanami is just a somewhat regular girl, yet strange events start to happen around her. She soon realizes that her "normal" life will probably never be the same, even when she forgets some things. Of course, the spider demon is the first to get to her. And then a phoenix comes to visit her. What else is going to happen? How many more attacks will she have to survive?
1. Chapter 1: Not What It Seems

**Chapter 1: Not What It Seems**

_'Grinning evilly, I finally wrapped my small clawed hands around the demons throat. My ebony black hair fell around my shoulders, shielding my face from the suns' gaze. My sapphire blue eyes glinted dangerously behind the strands as I strangled my victim. Cuts and bruises adorned my pale skinny body as I tightened my grip._

_I faltered for only a minute when I heard a voice. I tried to concentrate more fully on my task, but hands and voices were reaching for me now. As I tried to ignore all the noise, I studied the demon in my grasp. He had cuts and bruises that covered his body, much like mine. White hair made a half circle around the top of his head, which was completely bare save for the seemingly purple markings that adorned every inch his partially exposed body. The only hint of his modesty was the white fur pants he wore to his ankles._

_The demons hands clawed at my own, painfully trying to remove my hands from his neck. The voices grew louder, the hands more persistent, as I tightened my grip. Suddenly I felt something hit the back of my head and I let go of my victim in surprise. The demon bucked me off and-'_

Something actually hit my head and I woke with a start, my books and textbooks falling to the floor with resounding thuds. The class erupted with giggles as the teacher glared from the front of the room. As I reached for my stuff, a larger hand picked them up and placed them on my desk. I looked up into the smiling face of Shuichi Minamino, the prince of the school.

With his long red hair and vivid green eyes, he's always seemed gentle. Combine all of that with a quiet disposition and mostly peaceful presence, he's an enigma. Unlike the other boys in the school, he wasn't cocky, he didn't try to date every girl that came his way, and he tried to help his mom without complaining. At least, that's what I heard. The whole package made all the girls, including me, crazy in love with him. I was probably the only one smart enough not to try to get too close to him. He didn't want any of us, that's for sure.

"I hope I didn't startle you; I was hoping to get your attention." He muttered, helping me up off the floor as he stood up. I was too shocked to reply, staring into his eyes. They seemed odd though, a little dull, but still looked the same color as everyday. He didn't normally speak to others… He handed me the folded up piece of paper that had hit the back of my head. "Please read this."

The teacher, probably shocked that his best student had disrupted his class, cleared his throat several times before telling us to return to our seats. After Minamino-kun had sat down, he turned back to the board, determined to get back to the lesson. Obviously he didn't want to be the first to give the boy a detention. Looking around, I noticed some of the girls staring at Minamino-kun, shocked at his behavior. Some had already recovered enough to glare at me.

I wasn't the prettiest girl in school, nor was I the ugliest. With my black hair and light blue eyes, I suppose I could've been pretty had my hair behaved or if I hadn't chosen classes that I could hide behind. Because of my mother-who had had the same problem when she was my age- my hair was unruly, always curly and difficult to brush. I kept it long though, so it was normally in a high ponytail. Not to mention, my clothes were always baggy, in and out of school, I got into trouble for reading in class, and I wasn't all that popular. They were probably wondering if he'd gone blind or stupid.

Waiting for the teacher to turn around, I picked up the carefully folded paper. It turned out to be a shredded corner of his planner, or what looked like his planner. I shrugged off my confusion to notice the small hearts he'd placed around my name, his neat hand writing, and his doodles that took up almost the whole paper.

*Please meat me at yoar laucker after scoul. I wish to speek to yoa aloune.*

* * *

Three hours later, I was still confused about the note. He's the smartest person in the school, the genius everyone wants to be. I didn't understand what he wanted from me either. Why would he disrupt class just to speak to me? Why in the world did he spell any of those words wrong? I only had him for that one class, because of his advanced classes, so I hadn't seen him since the class, but I was almost able to leave.

"Just remember to study the stars for tomorrows practice. It won't be long, but it will be hard. Have a good day. Sayonara." My club supervisor said, smiling in her red suit. Tsuki-sensei was sweet, in her own way, but she loved astronomy, which made her a great person to know.

"Sayonara, Sensei!" The class yelled in response, rushing out the door. I followed the stampede to my locker, sighing as I put my books in my bag. I was reaching for my black converse when I heard my friends.

"MIZUKI-SAN!" Hunching my shoulders, I looked over my shoulder at the slightly tall twins that were running towards me. They must've heard about the incident as well. Everyone seemed to have heard. They latched onto me when they reached me, one pair of arms around my neck, the other around my waist. "Why didn't you tell us you had club today?" They demanded, pouting their lips. With their green eyes and brown hair, they were adorable. Yet they were taller than me so I ignored their puppy eyes.

"Guys, I always have club on Friday. You know that." I reminded them, rolling my eyes. "Just because something happened today, doesn't mean my routines changed."

Nana Noemi squealed, bouncing enough that her short curled hair jumped around. "Something happened today?" She asked, grinning. Kana, her long hair tied in a ponytail, hugged me tighter. I sighed.

"Don't play dumb; I know you've heard about it." I muttered, detaching Kana before she killed me.

"Then go over every detail. I mean, eve-" Her eyes grew wide mid-sentence and I stared at her a moment before turning around and up.

"There you are, Mizuki-san." Shuichi muttered, wrapping one arm around my shoulders to steer me towards the door. My own eyes were wide as I looked back at the twins, who quickly sent me two thumbs up, before I was steered around the corner and out the doors. Minamino-kun had a self-satisfied grin on his face when I looked up at him, seeming proud of himself for some reason.

"Um, Minamino-kun, shouldn't we go back for our shoes?" I asked, tugging lightly on his arm that was lightly slung over my shoulder. Minamino smirked down at me, shaking his head a little as he led me out the doors and down the road. A lot of people called to him, wanting to say hi or ask a question, but he ignored them, preferring instead to lead me to a park and down into a nature park that had a wooded path. His smirk grew as he guided me off the clean cut path onto a bush covered path that obviously had very few visitors.

We walked several more feet, turned onto another unknown path and then Minamino-kun led me into a clearing. It was large, about 10 feet around and 20 feet long, and completely covered in flowers and bushes. Trees made it into a circle, almost making a barrier that opened into another path that was on the other side of the clearing. What really made it cool was the lone tree stump in the middle, looking almost like a throne with part of the top cut off. I walked towards the stump, but turned to Minamino-kun as I sat down.

Minamino-kun's grin had turned almost evil, his eyes a little hooded as he stared at me hungrily. I stood up quickly, feeling a little uneasy when he took a step towards me. "Minamino-kun, what's going on?" I shuffled my feet nervously, moving around the stump instead. "Minamino-kun, wh-?"

"SILENCE" He bellowed, his voice oddly garbled and echoing around the clearing. Flocks of birds took flight as I stumbled back a little, moving quickly back. He pointed to me, his eyes glinting an odd orange color. "You will not speak, you will not talk, for I will have your tongue." His voice sounded archaic, mythical, almost lyrical.

"What?" The word was said without sound. I couldn't hear myself at all as I tried to ask him what in the world he'd done. I screamed, just to hear my voice. My throat constricted, I felt the muscles move, yet I couldn't hear anything at all. Minamino-kun grinned and chuckled as he watched my panic grow.

"Tanami-san! Run!" Turning in surprise, momentarily stunned to hear Minamino's voice behind me, I was equally stunned to see Shuichi Minamino running towards me, coming from the path that seemed so far away. My eyes widened further and I'm sure I screamed again, especially when something landed on my arm. I tried to wipe it off, feeling the prickly sensation on my wrist.

I looked down and stared at the black skinny and hairy hand that kept me from running for the hills. The hand was joined by two others that looked exactly alike, which were attached to the black, skinny, hairy, and bare shoulder(s) of the bug faced boy that just a second ago looked exactly like Minamino-kun. His stench alone sent me reeling and I struggled to get away. I gagged when the monster held me to him.


	2. Chapter 2: A gilded Cage and The rescue

Chapter 2: Gilded cages and Rescues

Mizuki Tanami struggled to get away from the thing that held her captive, failing to notice the four boys who ran to help her with her recent predicament. Minamino-kun, a supposedly human red haired boy, produced a long thorn vine that he sharply flicked at the creature, tearing off some of the creatures skin. The thing dropped Tanami-san with a roar, flinging her to the forest floor and she took refuge behind the tree stump. Roots sprang up from the all around her to make an intricate thorn cage that protected her from the demon.

As the creature advanced on her, single-minded in its task of getting past the thorns, Minamino-kun wrapped his "whip" around two of the creatures' wrists, pulling it towards the edge of the clearing and away from the girl. Mizuki, latching on to the only part of the cage that wasn't covered in thorns, curled in the farthest corner of the plant made cage, her eyes closed shut. The shortest boy in the group, his eyes glowing red with anger, stumbled slightly before he jumped away from the demon's swinging arms. A boy with flaming orange red hair used the flaming sword in his hands to cut the ever-growing arms of the creature, moving quickly away to avoid being hit by the blood of the demon. Afterwards, when the demon just grinned and grew back his arms, Minamino-kun flicked his wrist again, wrapping the bug looking creature in the thorn vine tightly. A black haired boy stood facing the demon with a grin of his own, his glowing right hand facing the demon.

Again, the black haired boy with the red eyes almost stumbled again before dropping quickly to the forest floor to avoid the swinging fist that had escaped the vine prison. Suddenly blue light blocked Mizukis' view of the battle; a blast caused her to cover her ears. She couldn't hear the boy with the greased up hair over the blast of what sounded like a gun. She missed the death of the creature that'd attacked her, its head falling to the ground near its feet.

"Man, I think that was my best yet!" The brown eyed boy yelled, grinning from ear to ear. He blew the tip of his finger like he would a smoking gun and turned to his teammates. "What do you think?"

"I think you need to practice your aim. Weren't you aiming for his chest a minute ago?" The orange haired boy said, grimacing as he looked towards the girl. She was just looking from over the stump, the cage slowly disappearing as if it too was hesitant.

"What d'you mean? I hit him!"

"Yusuke, you took off his head." Minamino-kun pointed out, chuckling as he moved away from the body. The red eyed boy rolled his eyes, muttering, as he moved his gaze to the girl whose blue eyes moved from them to the hand she could see of the body. Yusuke scoffed, waving his hand dismissively.

"Hey, shrimp! What the hell was up with you falling all over the place? I thought I was gonna have to save you myself." The orange top said, smirking at the boy who reached to his shoulders. The red eyed boy glared over his shoulder, at all of them as they chuckled a little.

"Yes, Hiei, it isn't like you to falter during a battle. Are you… unwell?" Shuichi asked, touching the still moving roots closest to him as he moved in front of Mizuki. Hiei transferred his glare to the tall red head, ignoring the fact that the buffoon as he dubbed the orange haired boy was laughing even harder. Hiei lightly kicked the roots out of his, grabbing the pale-faced girls' attention. She blinked at him dazedly, not sure what to do. Her skin looked whiter than before the "attack", making her eyes look bluer and wider as she looked for the demon. Orange top moved in front of the stump, blocking her view of the body.

"I really thought I was gonna have to save you. Wouldn't that have been great? Real live prove that I am just as great as you. Right, Urameshi?" The orange top chuckled, making Mizuki look at him oddly. It was hard enough for her to grasp a hold of the image before she'd seen the other Minamino-kun; she didn't need these boys laughing as though it was nothing.

"Yeah sure, Kuwabara."

"She was screaming." Hiei replied, watching the girl as she tried to get her legs from under her. The black haired girl fell down, shaking like a new born foal, still obviously scared and uncertain. He supposed he couldn't blame the girl; she was, after all, only human and she'd probably lived a rather sheltered life. She'd never had to scrounge for food or fight to survive. "Now she thinks that all of this was just a horrible dream and she will wake from this supposedly traumatic event without any memory of what she'd dreamed about."

Mizuki, recognizing her thoughts, glared at him. With her blue sapphire eyes sparking with anger, she opened her mouth to reprimand him, only to have no sound come forth. She coughed, hoping that it would produce some kind of sound. Tears sprang in her eyes when it was clear she wasn't going to produce a sound.

"Hey, you okay girl?" The orange haired boy asked, warily watching as she placed her face in her hands. Urameshi and Kuwabara shuffled their feet awkwardly.

"The demon must've taken her voice to prevent anyone hearing her scream." Minamino-kun predicted, leaning down and picking her up off the ground. Startled, Mizuki instinctively attacked him, trying to get away. Ignoring her pounding fists and shifting her to carry her more comfortably, Shuichi started to walk towards the edge of the clearing he and his friends had come from. After picking up Mizukis' bag, Shuichi's stolen one, and calling someone to clean up the corpse and its pieces, the others followed.

While that had been done, Shuichi tried to settle the girl down, speaking to her softly about school or anything to distract her, but Tanami-san kept trying to get away from him. Although she was obviously weakening, the others were mindful of her small kicking feet and swinging fists. They watched as her hands attempted to pull Shuichis' hair. She froze as she realized the hair was real, her eyes widening a little bit. She eyed the strands, running her hands through it slowly.

"This is not a dream, Onna." Hiei replied, smirking at her when he caught her eyes glaring at him from over his friends shoulder. "It feels real because- When I wish to stop."

"She really thinks this is a dream? Why would she dream of you, K-Shuichi?" Yusuke asked, smirking at the now blushing girl who turned her gaze away.

"Why would she dream of the oaf, unless it _was_ a nightmare?" Hiei added.

"What's that supposed to mean? Girls love to have dreams about me!" Kuwabara grinned. Mizuki wrinkled her nose at the thought, but only Shuichi-kun saw. He chuckled, which was covered by Yusukes' exclamation.

"Yeah right! The only way you'd be in a girls dream is if you were dressed in some weird cat suit. Or, like Hiei said, you were in the girls nightmare. Trust me, if a girl found you in her dreams, you'd be beaten to a bloody pulp." Yusuke replied, smirking as he pushed Kuwabara forward to keep him walking. Kuwabara turned around and sent a fist towards his friends head, yelling that it wasn't true. Yusuke gave him a kick in the ribs, but also yelled another insult. Next thing Mizuki knew, they were fighting, verbally and physically. Mizuki looked at Hiei who now strolled next to her and Minamino-kun. He smirked and rolled his eyes, answering her minds question.

"I must apologize, Tanami-san, for their behavior. They are friends, but they have always fought like this. I still don't understand it." Minamino-kun muttered, sighing when they heard Kuwabara let out a battle cry. Tanami-san looked over his shoulder to his fighting friends only to silently giggle at the sight of Kuwabara in a head lock. "We'll get you your voice back, of course, after we figure out how. Afterwards, you can go home, is that alright?"

"She's fine with it as long as she's not left alone," Hiei muttered, smirking when Tanami-san glared at him. Shuichi chuckled and Mizuki looked at the red head, slightly embarrassed by her ire. "No Onna, it's not your fault. You didn't know about demons." Tanami-san tilted her head to show her confusion and Hiei nodded. "He was a demon. I'm not sure why he attacked you, but we will find out."

"That's very admirable of you, Hiei. Maybe being around humans has helped you a lot more than I originally thought." Shuichi-kun replied, hiding his smile from his friend.

"Do not misunderstand me, Fox. I just want to get the onna out of our hair as fast as I can." Hiei muttered, turning away from them both as they stepped out of the forest and onto the sidewalk. "I'm sure she'll be a nuisance even without her voice."

"Yeah! The shrimp hates humans; why would he even try to help one without getting anything in return?" Kuwabara asked from behind them, his face slightly bruised. Hiei opened his mouth to reply, glaring at that taller boy when they all heard:

"YUSUKE URAMESHI!"

Yusuke stopped and pivoted on one foot, already knowing who was behind him judging by how pale he'd gotten. Kuwabara nudged Mizuki and winked at her. "Watch this." He muttered. She turned her head, causing Shuichi to turn so she wasn't uncomfortable, to watch the brown haired, brown eyed, girl stomping up to Yusuke, standing at least to his elbow. She wore a blue seifuku and carried a brown bag that looked almost identical with the one Mizuki herself had.

"Yusuke! Why do you never listen to me? I don't care if you have a job to do, but coming to the last two months of school is important, mister. Tell Koenma, from me, that you HAVE to go to school, or you'll have to go to summer school yet another year. God, I swear you are such an idiot!" The girl finally took a breath, using that time to unclench her hands and to glare at the boy in trouble. Yusuke, seemingly regretful, slowly and warily, took her bag and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She allowed him to place a kiss on her temple with a sigh, after he apologized.

Kuwabara, having expected the end result, nudged Tanami-san again and made the whipping gesture towards his friend. She silently shook her head. "Smart." She mouthed, tapping her temple. Hiei smirked and turned away from them, hiding his reaction from everyone.

"Keiko, this is Tanami-san. The girl I had to skip school to save from a demon, which not only took her voice, but was also going to eat her." Yusuke said, kissing Keiko on the cheek. Keikos' eyes widened as Mizuki had Shuichi put her down, watching as the other girl shook out her skirt. Keiko smiled at the girl, but looked a little worried.

"You can't talk, at all?" Keiko asked. When Tanami-san shook her head with a half-smile, Keiko looked at the boys. "Koenma can fix it right, guys?"

"With the resources the little god has, it's most likely that she'll have her voice in the five minutes it takes for Koenmas' doctors to take a look at her." Hiei replied. Tanami-san looked at him with doubt and rolled her eyes, lifting an eyebrow when Hiei snorted. "We tell the truth, Onna. He has little respect from us, but we respect his resources and his healers."

She looked at Shuichi-kun and he smiled, nodding once. She thought she saw a little gold in his eyes, but she wasn't able to ask Hiei because Kuwabara and Yusuke quickly got her away from the other two. "Now do tell us, why in the world would you dream of our very own Shuichi?" Yusuke asked, grinning devilishly. Mizuki quickly withdrew from them, turning instead to the safe side of the group, only a small blush on her face.

"Wait she thought this was a dream?" Keiko asked, smiling as she linked her arm with Yusuke. Yusuke and Kuwabara laughed, watching as the smaller girl blushed even more.

Smirking, Hiei chuckled. "We were stopped by some girls looking for you." Hiei replied. She fell in step with him, her head tilting slightly. "We're going to the oafs' house. We're waiting for someone there. She's busy at the moment… because she's the grim reaper. No."

"Is Hiei answering her questions?" Kuwabara asked, his eyes widening a little. A smile made its way across Yusukes' face as he nodded, looking back at the two. Keiko giggled, but smacked Yusuke on the arm for laughing at the red eyed boy.

"I must be hallucinating. It seems like Mr. Sour Puss is being nice to someone." Yusuke muttered, meeting the glaring boy in the eyes. Hiei ignored them all, but lost the smirk that had graced his lips. Tanami-san tentatively reached out a hand to touch his arm, but she touched air as he suddenly wasn't there. Startled, her hand fell down as she turned to the others.

"Don't worry about Hiei, Tanami-san. He's a little anti-social." Keiko assured her, pulling away from Yusuke. "Have the boys properly introduced themselves or are you playing it by ear?"

"Frankly, I'm not surprised. They're always forgetting something in the face of action. Although, Shuichi-kun normally remembers to say something." Tanami, naturally looked around, but Keiko pointed up to show her the blue haired girl floating above them on what Tanami-san thought was a paddle. "Hello, I'm Botan."


	3. Chapter 3: Oh, dear, gods

**Chapter 3: Oh, dear, gods…**

It was hard to keep myself from fainting or screaming, not that they'd hear me. Try looking at someone floating on a paddle, ore, and then telling me that that image didn't shock you one bit. Yet it was harder still to not laugh as the boys looked sheepishly away. Not wanting to be rude, I shook Botans' offered hand when she was on the ground. She seemed friendly, cheerful, and sweet. She also seemed like a big sister to the others, lightly making fun of their "manners".

"Sorry if I startled you; I'm here to escort you to Kuwabaras' house." Botan said, grinning as her ore just vanished into thin air. Looking around she noticed the absence of one particular boy. "Where's Hiei?" Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a flash of black and instinctively tracked the flash to an alley way that was directly adjacent to us. "What did you guys do this time?"

'_He runs away from these guys a lot? Do they always mess with him?' _

"He was being nice to Tanami-san." Kuwabara whined, trying to justify their reactions.

'_He's the only one who can hear me, you nincompoop. Gods, I wish I could justifiably kick you right now.'_ I sighed at my thoughts before turning my attention to the alley again, wondering if it was a cat. _'Maybe I could convince my landlord to let me keep it. Or I could at least feed it if I could just-' _

"-rue, Tanami-san?"

I turned my attention back to Botan, wondering how much I had missed of her question. I longed to ask her what she had said, but I knew it would look weird saying something without any sound coming out. Shrugging inwardly, wondering what the harm would be, I nodded. Botan sent Keiko a grin and pulled her aside, staring to walk so that everyone else couldn't hear her.

'_Why do I get that I just signed a death warrant, or at least a torture agreement, for whomever she'd been talking about?' _

Seeing my wide eyes, Yusuke and Kuwabara both wrapped their arms around me again. "Don't worry, Mizuki-san. You'll be safe; they'll probably just torture you with girly stuff or something." Yusuke said, obviously thinking that would help.

'_God! Why wasn't I paying attention? They could use half the things they used as so-called beauty products as torture devices!'_ Noticing my slightly horrified expression, Kuwabara and Shuichi chuckled.

"Don't worry, Mizuki-san, they won't do anything to you. Besides, I'm pretty sure Hiei's only attracted to other demons. Or maybe he's only attracted to himself… Either way, you don't have anything to worry about. None of their plans will work; I'm sure of it." Kuwabara assured me, grinning as he tried to urge me forward. I dug in my heels, looking confused.

"Hiei will meet us there or along the way, Tanami-san. He knows the way." Minamino-kun explained, guessing rightly at my hesitation. I looked around me, memorizing the street to remember where I'd seen the streak and nodded, walking forward of my own accord.

"Yeah, besides my house is only about two blocks from here." Kuwabara stated, grinning. "My sister's there now, along with the girl of my dreams. Someday after a long engagement, we're going to get married." I looked up at him in surprise, but he didn't notice. He was too busy with his head in the clouds.

"He's talking about Yukina. I think you'll like her; she's pretty sweet." Yusuke said, grinning at his friend. He walked next to Keiko, his arm going around her. She stopped her whispered plans long enough to kiss his cheek. Watching them made me wonder what in the world had happened to me all of a sudden.

'_Would they become my friends, even the demon Hiei? How were the rest of them strong enough to beat a demon? How was Shuichi-kun involved in this?' _

Obviously growing bored with just walking, Yusuke turned around to find his friend still staring off into space with a goofy grin. "Hey, Lover-boy! You're pretty sure of yourself when you can't even tell her how you feel." Kuwabara glared at his friend and kicked at him, twice. Yusuke dodged and grabbed his friends' leg, moving it a little higher to "test" his friends' balance.

'_Maybe they taunt each other and fight with each other to practice?' _

"Practice for what, Onna?" Hiei asked, falling into step beside me. I jumped, my hand flying up to cover my heart in fear of it flying out of my chest. I grabbed his arm, vaguely aware of the heat, as I stumbled and lost my balance. He looked surprise, as much as he permitted anyway, just raising an eyebrow at me. I pulled away quickly, placing my hands behind my back.

'_Holy shit, where'd he come from? He scared the living daylights out of my!'_

"Onna?" Hiei huffed, clearly annoyed with my thoughts.

'_Sorry, I was just wondering if they fought to practice fighting demons.'_ I replied, thankfully aware of the fact that I couldn't speak. Surprising me, Minamino-kun chuckled, while watching his friends.

"That could very well be it. Though they've done this since before our team even started and they were rivals back then." He muttered, his glistening green eyes catching me off guard. Taking a moment to think of how Minamino-kun even heard me, I turned to the others and watched as Keiko and Botan reprimanded the boys before turning away to laugh amongst themselves.

'_It could also be a sign of how close they are…'_ As soon as the other girls turned away, Yusuke and Kuwabara grinned at each other and made faces at their backs. It was hard not to notice that this odd group of people were in fact very good friends, even Hiei was included when Kuwabara started making fun of his height.

Even as I smiled, maybe even giggled, I was aware of how small my world seemed now. It was so hard to breathe and realize that my world had almost ended. Questions about my life here on out began to swarm my mind, but I shoved that away for another time.

'_You think of that when you're alone, home free.'_

* * *

When we arrived at the home of Kuwabara's, I was sure my mind was playing tricks on me. There in the middle of the living room stood a brown haired boy with a blue binky in his mouth and the letters "JR" in the middle of his forehead. To make matters worse, he was wearing something that I hadn't realized were still in fashion. And a blue cape….

A young girl with red eyes and light teal hair smiled at me as she took a sip of the tea that an older brunette woman handed her. Hiei huffed and moved around me, sitting near her on a chair in front of the window. The older woman looked up and almost choked on the cigarette she had in her mouth, staring at me with rounded brown eyes. I looked behind me, only seeing a silently laughing Shuichi, and looked back at the now recovered woman who moved forward and slapped her brother upside the head.

"_Itai_!" Kuwabara rubbed the back of his head and ignored the now gaping boy with the cape. Minamino-kun chuckled and led me to the loveseat, effectively hid the small almost mocking smirk on his lips. His gaze caught mine for a moment, his eyes glinting a light golden color in the light. Sat down next to me, his eyes green once again.

"Hey, Binky-breath, we got a problem." Yusuke announced, dropping onto Kuwabara's couch next to the young girl. The other boy, forgetting his surprise, glared at him indignantly.

"Honestly, Yusuke, how many times will I have to tell you I detest that name? Wait, before you go on, who is this girl and why is she here? I told you to detain, execute, or seriously injure the…problem… Don't you know how much trouble you can put me in?"

"Well, while we were trying to wake K-Shuichi from a drugged sleep, the demon"- Binky-boy cast me a quick glance at Yusuke's careless use of the word-"had taken Shuichi's identity, took this girl into a forest, took her voice so no one can hear her screams, and almost ate her. Oh, and we brought her here so you can help her out and so that we could send her home after she was all better." Botan stirred from her spot, her eyebrows slightly creasing.

"Yusuke-"

"Wait, the demon attacked her?" The boy almost dropped his tea cup, putting said tea cup hastily down onto the coffee table.

"Well, yeah, that about sums it up."

"But that isn't possible." The other boy narrowed his eyes at Yusuke, obviously seeing if Yusuke was trying to pull a fast one on him. I watched as his eyes rested on me, his expression a mix between confusion and suspicion.

"He's not lying, Koenma. The demon specifically tracked her down and brought her to a secluded part of the park near her school." Kuwabara defended, coming back from his room. He handed me a cup of water and refilled the red eyed girls' tea before taking his seat again. "If we hadn't gotten there when we did, she would've been eaten for sure."

"I repeat. That. _IS. _Impossible." Koenma grounded out, his anger showing through his eyes. He chose the moment I took a sip of the water to say: "That particular demon only eats half breeds and spirits. They don't go after humans at all; that's why I told you all to be careful." I choked, trying to clear my lungs of water. When my coughing fit ceased, I caught Koenma's eye.

"What do you mean by that?" I tried to ask, but it came out as just a silent pass of breath. No sound gave the words any backbone or feeling, but I continued, growing agitated with the lack of sound. I ranted in silence for several minutes, going red in the face even, yet I couldn't hear myself.

"You weren't kidding; she really can't speak." Koenma stood and I stared wide-eyed at him. "I'm sorry, but you will need to come with us." Behind him, a swirling black thing appeared almost out of nowhere. I turned to Hiei and cocked my head to the side.

"Meet Lord Koenma, prince of the spirit world." He muttered, smirking as I rolled my eyes.

'_I don't believe you.' _

"Believe what you want, Onna." Hiei smirked. _'You will come with us.'_


	4. Chapter 4: Trouble with Demons

Hey guys, it's the author of the story you're reading. Guess what!? I got 4 reviews! That I can see anyway. But I'm excited, cuz they liked my story! Thank you again, **pourquoibella,****sinisteRRRsAngel****,**** and random quest that I want to hug! **Anyway, there is a purpose for the bug/spider demon scene and that will probably be revealed in the chapter to come… Maybe. I think. Sorry, I'm just the writer, the story pretty much decides where it wants to go. :D

* * *

**Chapter 4: Trouble With Demons**

_'Typical guy, thinking he can boss people around. I wonder if he even realizes how arrogant he sounds. Or how stupid he looks with his eyes closed. _"You will come with us." _Ha! Like I'd listen to such an arrogant son of a bit- Why is he smiling? Dammit! Kittens in mittens, pandas in trees, Shuic- Ack!' _

Hiei couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him when the girl, her face contorting in confusion, tried to figure out her treacherous thoughts. Noting the others looking at him oddly, he glared before turning back to the now glaring girl. He noticed that she was now purposely sending him bloody, loud, and angry image-filled thoughts. One image made him smirk: her small hands wrapped around his neck. It caused her to think of a dream she had in her class, which caused her to think of the demon that had attacked her. Of course, he hadn't realized he was staring at the girl until Yusuke cleared his throat.

"Hiei?" The red-headed buffoon sounded nervous, thinking the worst as always. Hiei glared at Kuwabara, then at Koenma, effectively pushing the little lord into action. On impulse, he'd rather say instinct, he grabbed the blue eyed girl by the wrist, pulling her towards the black yet oddly colorful portal that was appearing in the oafs' living room.

Koenma pulled Botan with him through the portal, followed quickly by the others. They bade goodbye to Yukina, Shizuru, and Keiko; Yusuke promising as he went he'd be at school tomorrow. Passing Kuwabara, he winked at the taller boy and made him roll his eyes. Before the girls knew it, the group was gone. Keiko sighed, knowing what would happen. Especially with her jerk of a boyfriend was involved.

* * *

Hiei grunted when he felt the girl stumbled into him, which was closely followed by a pained groan when the damned girl landed a lucky shot to his groin. She took off down the hall, somehow avoiding the ogres that were running around with stacks of tittering paper. He took off after her in a second, not caring anymore that she was human and the victim. He was going to rip her ap-

Vines erupted from the floor, wrapping themselves around his torso. He was lifted into the air, spun and lowered up-side down to look at his teammates. He growled, the sound erupting from his throat menacingly. Behind him, blue eyes peeked from around the corner. She slowly walked over to the vines wrapped around his torso and lightly nudged them. They rippled, but didn't move otherwise. Hiei turned his glare to the girl, baring his teeth at her. Mizuki mistakenly thought he was in pain and turned wide blue eyes to the others, not noticing that Yusuke and Kuwabara were barely holding in their laughter.

_'Who's hurting him?'_ She asked, her hands tugging at the vine. Minamino-kun chuckled, but moved forward and pulled her gently away from his rather angry friend. Tanami-san jumped when the vines suddenly caught on fire, almost stepping forward to try to help Hiei. The boy, once the vines were gone, flipped into the air and landed on his feet. He glared at the now gaping girl and turned away, following Koenma to his office.

"Shall we?" Minamino-kun asked, smiling down at the girl. She almost twitched, annoyed that he acted like nothing happened, but she merely brushed it away and nodded. When she started following them, she looked around at the hall, surprised at the things she hadn't seen before. Her stomach and head had felt a little… off. She noticed the creatures yelling and running around. Most had large teeth and wore loincloths. Yusuke and Kuwabara chuckled at the expression she had on her face, wrapping their arms around her neck.

"These guys are called ogres. They help with everything Binky-breath need done." Yusuke stated, noting with satisfaction the slight pause that signaled the little prince was listening. Mizuki tilted her head, better to watch the th- ogres, and watched them move back and forth with towers upon towers of paper. Kuwabara, wanting to contribute something to the conversation, grinned widely.

"If you haven't realized it before, Hiei is a fire demon. That's why he wasn't burnt." Kuwabara grinned again, when Mizuki looked at him sharply. "Not many people can look at him and tell, but Shuichi is a fo-" Kuwabara struggled against Minamino-kun's hand, unable to get away. Tanami-san looked slightly confused, but decided to ignore the fact that Kuwabara was being restrained from telling her something. She'd heard mostly what he said. She wasn't stupid.

_'So, Hiei is a fire demon?'_ Shuichi nodded, looking slightly annoyed at his friend before letting his friend go. The demon in question looked over his shoulder at her, glaring as though she had insulted him. _'…I could see that. And Minamino-kun, next time your friend wants to tell me you're a fox, let him. It would save some energy and a clean hand.'_ With that, she turned and caught up with Koenma and Botan, both of whom smiled.

Shuichi, his eyes flashing gold for only a moment, chuckled to himself. _'She caught the oaf's blunder.'_ Hiei had stopped to wait for his teammates, glaring at the oaf. Yusuke looked at his comrade and frowned, sad at his thoughts.

"So, we're going to have to take her memory aren't we?" When the red head nodded, he sighed. "This was getting good too." Although none of the others wanted to admit it, they silently agreed.

"Why didn't you send us directly to your office, Koenma?" Minamino-asked, smiling when Tanami-san fell into step next to him.

_'Could he have done that?' _

"Well, I didn't want to make our guest sicker than I thought she'd be." Koenma replied, opening a rather large set of double doors. The girl looked at the doors and shot everyone a slightly deadpanned face. Koenma sat at the desk in the room and pressed a small blue button. Through one of the rather odd windows, a girl with light pink and brown eyes flew in with a grin.

"You called Koenma-sama?" She grinned, her voice bright and unknowingly making Mizuki's mood darken.

_'Oh, dear god. She's too peppy; I almost want to stand next to Hiei to get rid of the peppy vibes… Ew….' _

"Akiko-chan, get me the folder of Mizuki Tanami. Oh, and Hotada-san." The girl nodded quickly and flew out the way the group had come. Mizuki watched her leave, not able to stand how happily the girl seemed to be with life. "Now Tanami-san, I'm sure you have some questions?"

Blue eyes narrowed slightly in thought and she slowly nodded, looking rather reluctant. They all looked a little confused when she changed her mind and shook her head. Hiei growled when she nodded again.

"Hn. You're acting ridiculous. It's either no or yes." Hiei grumbled from his spot against the wall.

_'What do you plan to do with me? I mean, if you're able to read my mind, wouldn't you be able to do just about anything?_' Botan smiled at her from her spot next to Koenma's desk, silently thanking that she was able to hear the young girl. She mentally chuckled when she thought of the girls' reaction to her and Keiko's "text".

"Just about yes, but-" Botan stopped midsentence when Akiko entered followed by a man with lightly scaled skin, a doctors coat and human clothes. Around his neck was a stethoscope. Akiko placed a medium manila folder happily on Koenma's desk and practically skipped out of the room.

_'So creepy…'_

"Holy crap! That's her file?" Yusuke exclaimed, disbelief written all over his face. She looked a little confused at why he was overreacting and looked back at Koenma, who was reading the file. He read silently for a minute, his face staying expressionless for the whole time. A couple silently tense moments passed where Koenma placed the folder in his desk and sat with his fingers laced under his chin. "Well?"

"She's good to go home once she gets her voice back." The prince leaned back, relaxing against it as he listened to his teams growling frustration. "Hotada-san, I'm sure you have something that brings voices back?"

"Yes, Koenam-sama. However, the patient must be placed into a deep sleep." The reptilian man looked at his patient, noting her small stature, the strong presence of her curiousity, meeting his without flinching, and the straight position of her posture. "She'd survive the potion, but she will have to go into a small coma."

"Is there a guarantee that she will wake from it?" A smile grazed Mizuki's lips when she heard Shuichi ask the question on her mind. "It would be hard to explain how she went with me into a forest and ended up dead without witnesses."

_'Nice. Real nice…'_ Mizuki rolled her eyes and stepped around Hiei, who had been standing in front of her since the door opened. She stepped in front of Hotada-san and bowed, thanking him for his help. The reptilian man looked slightly surprised, but concealed it once she stood.

"You're welcome." With that and after telling the boys goodbye, the doctor and his patient left.


	5. Chapter 5: The Gardens

Hey Everyone! I must thank those that have written reviews, because they need praise. Thank you **SinisteRRRsAngel, **for sending such awesome reviews. Don't worry you guys, the story will go on. You'll see how too.

Chapter 5: The Gardens

"Mizuki!" The twins ran forward to tackle me. It had been a rough couple days after waking up in the hospital. I'm not sure why it happened, but I think I may have collapsed in front of Minamino-kin. The boy had apparently carried me to the hospital and had stayed by my side until he was sure I was going to wake. I had woken to the nurses gushing over how sweet and polite he had been, a yellow rose in a glass vase by my bedside, and the doctors' confusion. He had run many tests and found nothing wrong with me, except for a small cut on each of my upper arms.

"Is it true Minamino-kun took you to the hospital?" Nana asked, grinning as she attached herself to my arm.

"In his arms?" Kana finished grinning when I nodded with a shrug.

"I guess. I don't really remember." The boy in question was currently talking to his friend in front of the school. Our class today was taking place in a garden or something along those lines, I didn't read the pamphlet, and everyone was excited. Shuichi looked enthusiastically at his friends around him and I could hear the twins sigh next to me. I smiled when he caught my eye, but looked away. For some reason, I was getting funny feelings about everyone now-a-days, like I couldn't trust them. "I wish I had been awake to see it though."

"Well, of course! The Prince of Meioh High carried you like a princess in his arms, worried about his unconscious classmate whom he may have started having fee-"

Nana glared over her shoulder at Mitsuko, the leader of Minamino-kun's fan club.

"Oh, right. Sure, Minamino would totally fall for a scrumpy harlot. All she'd have to do is throw herself at him." Mitsuko glared at me, looking about ready to claw my eyes out. I rolled my eyes. The twins weren't too quick to disregard her. After all, they were almost like sisters to me and we tried to protect each other the best we could.

"We're talking about him falling for a kind, beautiful young girl, not an arrogant, egotistical harpy." Kana countered, smirking cockily at the brunette.

"You're only jealous because…" Nana started, sticking her tongue out at the brunette in front of her. Kana smirked as she finished for her sister.

"You and your club aren't allowed to touch him." The twins giggled.

"Watch it, you…" Mitsuko glared at them and tried to think of a counter attack.

"Ladies." The slightly curious, yet pleasantly happy tone of Shuichi's voice met all of our ears and we turned in surprise. He smiled at us all, an eyebrow cocked in curiosity. Behind him, his friend Kaito watched us warily. "The teacher has asked for us all to group together so she could do a head count."

"Thank you so much for informing us, Minamino-kun." Mitsuko said sweetly, fake honey dripping uncharacteristically from each sound that came from her mouth. I winced but followed the others to the large group that surrounded our teacher. Several other groups surrounded other teachers. All of the third year class was going to the gardens it seemed.

"Maybe we'll see some roses!" Nana gushed, grinning as she linked her arm with her sisters'. Kana rolled her eyes with a grin. "I hope they have some pink roses. Oh, that reminds me. I need to restock on those."

"Restock?" Minamino-kun asked, smiling when she turned a soft pink. "Do you mean that you grow your own?"

"Yes; I just love being able to look out my window at them, so I try to have seeds at hand in case one of my bushes stops producing flowers." She replied, grinning at the thought of her precious flowers. I noticed Mitsuko staring angrily and I grinned, loving her reaction. Before Minamino-kun could reply, much to my disappointment, the teacher called everyone into order.

* * *

"Oh, wow! These are just so pretty. Mizuki! Come check out these purple lantern flowers! Oh, and these bluebells are so pretty!" The twins were happily looking at the different types of flowers. I was somewhat surprised myself. There was so much color in just one space of the part of the garden we were in. It was full of grassy greens, vibrant reds, colorful oranges, pinks, and yellows, soft blues and purples. The students were now able to walk around the gardens after a somewhat interesting lecture on the language of flowers, what they may mean to different people, and how you can make your own colors of flowers. Nana had been almost quivering in her seat by the end of it.

Smiling, I ran an index finger over an ambrosia petal. I was a little surprised to see the bush of ambrosia. I was looking at the Kuchinashi (Gardenia), Benibara (roses), Kaneshon (Carnations) and the Wasurenagusa (forget-me-nots). Near them was a Tsubaki (Camellia) bush, mixed with red and whites. I was love-sick I suppose, but they all made me smile. As I was looking at them all, it was hard not to look over my shoulder at where Minamino-kun was.

"I see you like the love plants?" The scratchy yet sweet voice belonged to the sweetest looking older woman that was suddenly standing at my elbow, a hand held out to the flowers. Her warm brown eyes stared at me with a mischievous twinkle as she chuckled. "Is there someone you like that makes you stare at the flowers so?"

"Oh, oh, no! Of course not, I just like looking at the flowers; they remind me of my mother. She likes flowers an awful lot and she's always happier with a house full of them." I replied, knowing my cheeks were burning red, and smiling softly at the flowers. They had been my mother's favorite and every time she could, she'd buy bushels upon bushels of the flowers. The twins had taken it upon themselves to fill my apartment with pink and red roses after mom had died of an illness a few years ago. The older woman chuckled again, plucking a pink carnation from behind her. She reached up and placed the flower behind my ear, smiling when it held in place. I could feel my face burning again and I looked away, ignoring the weird stares of my classmates.

"Mizuki! Mizuki! Come look at these- Oh, um, hello." Nana smiled shyly at the woman, looking weirdly down at her red and orange kimono. Kana smiled, but took my hand, immediately not trusting the woman in front of us. "You don't mind if we steal her away do you?" The woman laughed, quickly covering her mouth with her kimono sleeve and I realized she was one of the garden attendants; a couple feet away, more kimono wearing older women walked around, making sure the students behaved themselves and answering questions when they could. The teachers walked the aisles, but weren't responsible for the students now apparently.

"Of course, go have fun. You only live once." The woman's eyes twinkled again, but the twins were already pulling me away towards the lilies and the orchids. I looked back and saw her incline her head at a small group of her fellow attendants. Weirdly enough, they looked my way, but quickly turned their hands, almost as though they were afraid of catching my eye. I looked back at them, confused at their actions, but the lady and her friends had already moved on to other students.

A flash of black made me stop and I caught the red eyes of a boy dressed in a long sleeved black shirt and blue jeans. He was leaning against a Sakura tree, watching us all interact with each other, and looked oddly familiar to me. I wanted so much to walk up to him and say something- anything. For the life of me, I couldn't remember where I'd seen him before. It was really starting to tick me off as he avoided my gaze after a two second glance. Kana dragged me away towards the primrose bush that she'd found, preventing me from walking over to the boy who smirked at me.

_'Who was that boy?'_

"So, who was the lady and who was that boy you were just staring at that Minamino-kun is talking to?" Kana asked, smirking when I turned to look at the boy again.

"I don't know who either of them are, but the boy looked familiar to me. Maybe I met him when Minamino-kun wanted to talk to me?" I looked uncertainly back at Kana and she shrugged while giving me a quick hug. Her multi-colored eyes twinkled as she turned away. I sighed.

"You could always ask Minamino-kun, you know. He'd answer your question for sure." Nana said with a grin, already holding four packets of rose seeds. I rolled my eyes, but looked up as Minamino-kun walked up to us, the boy following behind. The boy held an expressionless look on his face, but his eyes held apprehension and slight nervousness, his red eyes shifting to keep everyone in his view. Minamino-kun himself looked calm compared to his friend, or who I assume to be his friend, and still at peace with the environment he was in, which had been his overall attitude since we came to be at the gardens.

"Mizuki-san, Nana-san, Kana-san, this is my friend Jaganshi Hiei. Hiei, this is Tanami Mizuki, Noemi Nana, and Noemi Kana." Minamino-kun smiled at all of us and I smiled back before greeting his friend. Well, at least he has a name. Before Kana could say anything sarcastic, as she was prone to do, the teachers called out to round of us up. Hiei looked over at the teachers and before I could say anything to him, he was gone. The others didn't take any notice, though Minamino-kun looked a little nervous when he took notice of his friends' absence. "It seems our time is up here."

"I wasn't even able to grab any bluebells! Stupid lecture took too long!" Nana growled and glared at the teachers. Our teacher rolled her eyes and gently, but impatiently pushed her towards the buses. Before I could follow, the woman from before took a hold of my elbow. She smiled sweetly and handed me a note.

"Please read that once you get home." Her eyes twinkled again and I had the distinct feeling that she said or did something that she probably wasn't supposed to do. I nodded a little dumbly, not really knowing what to say to the older woman. I didn't know her, I knew that for sure, and I had no idea why on earth she would single me out- If that was indeed what she had done- and what she would want with me. "Goodbye."

"Uh, bye…" I muttered, staring at the woman. She waved to me as my teacher rushed me up the steps of the bus after several slightly awkward moments. I quickly found my seat, placing the note in my pocket.

"What'd she give you?" Kana asked, smiling as she scooted over to allow room for me on the normally two-seater seat. I shrugged and she turned her attention back to her flower crazy sister. Minamino-kun looked in my direction, looking a little confused, and I shrugged to him as well. Kaito caught his attention and I was finally left alone with me thoughts.

_'What the hell just happened? Who was that lady? Who is Hiei to me?' _

* * *

"Are you sure that's the one, Kyoshi-sama?" Tentatively, one of the attendees moved to stand next to the woman, careful not to let anyone else hear their conversation. The humans around them moved past obliviously, smiling and laughing as they looked at the flowers the women had grown themselves. The brown eyed woman smirked cockily, watching as the bus and the girl with the sapphire blue eyes rode away. The girl had looked so innocent; it had been hard to stay quiet about what she knew. "If she isn't the right one, we would have to wait another 200 years for an event like this. You know that."

"She's the one. I can feel it. She'll be ready soon too. Very soon it seems."

The other attendees grinned, letting out chuckles as they walked back to the main part of the gardens. It was time to celebrate and hopefully they could get everything in order on time. As she turned around, Kyoshi noticed the boy with the red-eyes and smiled. He stood on a thick branch of the Sakura tree and glared at the women, watching them suspiciously. She had noticed him talking to the cub and the others. If he thought he was going to interfere with their plans, he was very mistaken.

"She will be ours. Soon."


	6. Chapter 6: Thoughts and An Attack

**Chapter 6: Thoughts and An Attack**

Mizuki shuffled her feet nervously under the street light near the park. She'd gotten home relatively early, due to the field trip, and her feet had carried her to the park. It was still bright out, children and adults moved around happily past and through the entrance, and yet the black haired girl hesitated to move forward. She felt odd, standing at the entrance, but every time she moved closer, a sense of foreboding swept over her. She couldn't explain why she felt this way either. The girl sighed, closing her eyes and took the last couple steps into the park.

Her feet didn't melt. She hadn't been struck down or anything. Mizuki scoffed at her irrational response to her surroundings and walked through the park to her spot; a rather large tree sat close to the fountain but was away from the foot traffic, allowing for a wonderful rest for anyone. Some random couple had carved their names into the bark, making Mizuki smile every time she saw the slightly off and funny looking heart. She went to the tree mostly to read, draw, or play her violin. Today the spot was used to think.

Many things had seemed different lately, she being one of them. She found herself watching people closely and noticing strange things that seemed to disappear if she didn't focus completely on the person. One guy she'd spotted and accidently focused on had had honest to god horns on the top of his head, a lady had looked like she had had wings covering her mouth and a line across her throat. Not to mention she had recently felt antsy and restless, which was strange for her. Normally she had patience and could concentrate, but ever since she got home from the hospital she'd been in constant need of movement.

Of course there was also that feeling of being watched at odd hours of the day, as though someone felt the need to leave and come back. The hairs on her neck were still raised from the last time the watcher had visited. It was odd how very aware of the intruder she was; her spine would go tingly, her hands would start to sweat, and she became more alert to everything around her. When she started to feel that way, there was also the feeling of some unknown sensation running over her skin that made her shiver. It was like hard to explain the feeling, but it came upon her every time the watcher was there.

Lately the sensation came from Minamino-kun as well. She'd noticed recently changes in him too. He seemed to be watching her closely, always catching her eye when she turned her head his way. The other day, she'd even noticed him following her home. She'd turn around and he'd been right there, looking slightly "surprised" to see her. She thought he'd only looked surprise because she had noticed him. Her eyes had caught the feigned innocence easily enough, but she couldn't ascertain why he felt the need to follow her. The boy had also started the habit of talking to her at random moments, when before he'd only smiled and briefly acknowledge her. It had been her job to strike any conversation between them. Now she could swear the boy had white animal ears and white streaks through his hair whenever she focused on him, making it hard for her to really look at him.

She sighed, leaning her head on the weirdly comforting trunk of her tree. It was hard trying to ignore the fact that she may very well be going crazy. The blue eyed girl had never had to deal with insanity before, so she wasn't sure of the warnings or signs. She had had to deal with death, a slight case of neglect as her father chose to travel rather than live with her through her teens, but never insanity. Speaking of her father, he'd decided in that random way of his that it was time to visit his rather lonely daughter. His work sent him to places around the globe to get companies to sign with his network.

If he saw she was going insane, though that wasn't very likely, he'd probably send her to an asylum. Her father was very much into appearances and rank. If there was anything that sullied his chances to raise his rank, that thing would be permanently disposed of, even if it was his own flesh and blood. Her father was a womanizer, frat-boy intimidator, and all around asshole whose goal was to gain every STD on the planet. (In Mizuki's opinion anyway.)

She really could care less about the man. He only provided a roof over her head. Everything else was her job. He had come home, only to grab a full suitcase of clothes and had promptly left for another trip. Truthfully, it had been getting harder and harder for her to even be in the same area as the bastard posing as her father. She'd been walking up the stairs just as he had walked down them, both of them being surprised to see the other.

"Eight months is a long time to be gone, though." She muttered, looking up at the leaves of the tree. Judging by the position of the light bleeding through the leaves, it was almost time for her to get to her job. She looked around, just now noticing how quiet it had gotten. The park looked relatively empty compared to earlier when she had first gotten to the park. Only a few families sat on benches around the park, laughter wafting over Mizuki as she slowly stood from her spot. She leaned back against her tree and stretched her legs slowly. "Alright, I guess now is as good a time as an-"

The sensation that royally creeped the blue-eyed girl out erupted on her body, pouring over her legs and her back. Her eyes widened as she lost her balance, falling back on her butt. Standing before her was a rather tall _green_ man, his decidedly yellow hair standing up from his head, and his pink eyes watching her as he moved forward a little. He had two horns, one behind the other, and a grin full of rotten and sharp teeth. Her breath caught in her throat when he kneeled down towards her. She briefly thought of kicking him over to give her some time to run away, but quickly dismissed the thought. It would only anger him.

"You're the one everyone is so gaga over? You don't feel half as powerful as they say you should be; you smell good though, so that's an upside. However, you look a little stupid. Why is your mouth open like that?" The… creature tilted an eyebrow at the girl that was staring at him, her cyan blue eyes wide in surprise. "Could it be that you have no idea about anything? You know nothing about yourself, then, did you know?"

"W-What are you? W-Who are you? What are you talking about? I know myself perfectly well, thank you." She said, glaring at the creature as she stood back up. Its pointed ears twitched slightly, and he looked over his shoulder, allowing for Mizuki to quickly jump to the lowest branch of her tree. She knew she wouldn't be able to run from the thing. It had longer legs, which mean it would probably be able to climb the tree easily, but the branches were closer together, giving her short legs an advantage.

The creature chuckled as he spared her only a glance before turning to face the four boys racing towards him. Mizuki gasped aloud when she noticed Minamino-kun running towards the creature, following a boy with slicked black hair. The black haired boy flew at the creature, punching his face twice before getting kicked in the stomach. A red haired boy grazed the creatures shoulder as it moved out of the way. Mizuki caught sight of the boy, Hiei, who immediately attacked the creature afterwards.

Suddenly the fighting was a blur and all she saw were flashes of the blows that landed on each of the boys and the creature. She was aware of some kind of sound behind her, but she turned too late and she was literally kicked out of her tree. She flew through the air, smacking into branches along the way. Landing wasn't a very fun experience for her and she groaned as she turned herself onto her back. A blue skinned girl with long dark blue hair stood in front of her, a cruel smirk on her red lips. Her yellow eyes glinted dangerously as she picked the black haired girl up by her hair. Mizuki cried out and struggled against the girls' hold. The strangely blue girl moved forward, her bare feet barely visible underneath the long red dress she wore.

"If you value this girls' life, you will stop fighting now!" The girl shouted to be heard over the sounds of smacking flesh and angry and pain-filled grunts. It took a couple moments but the boys stopped moving enough to allow the green creature to move forward. The blue skinned girl tightened her hold on Mizuki, whose eyes were already tearing up from the pain. She whimpered as the stronger girl jerked her for fun. "This is the girl they sent us after?" The girl sounded cold and disconnected from everything.

"It seems so. She feels so weak, doesn't she? It's quite pathetic if you ask me." The creature grabbed her chin, turning her face towards him. It seemed like his eyes took in every detail of her, making Mizuki shiver from disgust and fear. She felt the sensation again, the feeling almost rubbing against her body and she tried to back away from him. "Hm, she seems to know our energy, but she doesn't know anything else. Maybe there might be some power. A very small amount though it is."

"Leave her alone, assholes! She didn't do anything to you!" The four boys, including Minamino-kun, looked absolutely pissed off and angry. It was the sleek black haired boy who was yelling at them. Mizuki noticed how Hiei seemed to be inching slowly away from his comrades, keeping the other two demons in his view as he made his way towards the trees nearby. The creatures chose to ignore the boys, moving to stare into Mizuki's eyes. She whimpered when the blue girl ran a taloned index finger down her throat. "I said leave her ALONE!" An explosion was heard and next thing Mizuki and the blue skinned girl knew the green skinned creature was missing a vital piece of his body. There was a hole right his heart should be.

"If you wish for the girl to stay alive, you will not move another muscle. You move a muscle and I swear I will rip her throat out before you even can move another inch." The blunette smirked as she laid a deadly talon on Mizuki's pale skin. She tauntingly ran the tip of the talon across the girl's throat and noticed the small line of blood that appeared. The girl cooed softly as she ran her finger over the line, causing more blood to spring up. She actually lifted her blood stained finger to her lips, licking off most of the blood. "How fragile you are, my girl. One could just eat you up, you're so tasty."

Mizuki glared at the girl, getting tired over the girl's hold. She spied the disappearance of Hiei and reached up to "calmly" retract the girl's claws. The creature lifted an eyebrow, slightly surprised that the human was reacting in such a way. Wasn't she just whimpering from the pain? Mizuki finally detangled the girl and moved forward slightly, laying her hands on the ground. She grabbed her bearings and suddenly lifted her back legs into the air. Caught off guard, the creature was sent flying… straight into Hiei's katana. Keeping her eyes averted from the scene, she accepted Shuichi-kuns' handkerchief.

"Are you alright, Tanami-san?" Minamino-kun asked, watching as the girl applied pressure to her throat. He was surprised when she sent him a dark look and turned away from him, heading down the deserted path. She ignored his call and kept walking. She now needed more time to think. She was sure something like this had happened and Minamino-kun had been a part of it then too. Except it couldn't have right? Why had she known that Hiei would be behind her, waiting for the creature to back away from her? She wasn't going to get much sleep after this.

She looked back towards the boys and noticed them staring after her. _'Someone help me get through this…'_

* * *

"You're not going to get a response, fox. The girl is stuck in her own mind. For right now anyway." Hiei muttered, watching as the girl walked out of the park. Kuwabara and Yusuke sighed as they stood next to the two fallen demons. "Don't touch them, idiots."

"They're dead though. You and Yusuke killed them both." Kuwabara stated. He nudged the girl with a stick and she disintegrated on the spot, her remains blowing up in his face. Hiei sighed. Kuwabara sputtered to get the ashes out of his mouth, frantically wiping his hands over his face. Yusuke looked at his friend and burst out laughing, watching as the boy grabbed leaf after leaf from the nearby tree. He used the leaves to wipe off the ashes before anyone, namely Shuichi, could protest. "Oh god! She's everywhere! That's so gross!"

"Uh, Kuwabara… That was poison ivy…" Shuichi muttered. He hid his smirk as the boy panicked, throwing the leaves in the air. Hiei and Yusuke did not give the boy the luxury of his dignity and laughed at the boys' situation as Kuwabara tried to rub his face and his hands off on his shirt. "Kuwabara, stop! That's not going to help you." The boy froze and stared at the smarter boy, lifting his hands in the air to avoid touching anything else. Kuwabara looked sheepishly at his friend, ignoring the other two who were still laughing.

"You're even more of a fool than I thought, oaf." Hiei chuckled, watching as the orangette did as the other boy said, so that the red head could wrap the boys' hands in an antidote who knew for poison ivy. "Honestly, how did you get this far through life?"

Kuwabara chuckled as he watched his friend take care of the ivy. "I've had a lot of help, believe me." Hiei was silent for a minute, surprised the oaf had taken the question seriously. He and Yusuke soon resumed chuckling once they got over the initial shock. Yusuke stepped back to sit on the ground as he waited, put tripped over something that exploded in the air around him.

"This is absolutely disgusting." He muttered as his friends went into a riot.


	7. Chapter 7: Strange Happenings

**Chapter 7: Strange Happenings**

_'Black hands reached for me as I tried to run, holding me fast. I tried to get away, but the hands were too strong. It began to rain just as I heard distant splashing behind me. I tried to cry out, say something, but the creature had done something to me that prevented any sound to emit from my mouth. "Tanami-san, run! I turned my head and saw red- _

_ "She was screaming." I knew I couldn't make any sound, how could he hear me? A flash of black. Could it be a cat? Would I be able to convince the landlord? Pictures of the strange boys from earlier today flashed through my mind of them laughing and arguing. A girl with blue hair in the sky, a boy with a binky in his mouth. _

_ "Believe what you will."_

_ "You're going to have to come with us." _**But why? Who are you? What are you?**_ A strange building, different colored creatures racing to and from desks, and lastly one of the creatures bending over her. His skin was purple, he wore spectacles, and his two horns were on either side of his black haired head. He lifted his hand, a needle aiming for my throat slowly descended._

_ "You're going to be fine."'_

I sat up, gasping. The window was open, letting in the breeze and I sighed. "Jeez, overactive imagination much?" I muttered, getting up from bed to close the window. The tree I planted when my parents and I first moved here sat outside, the moons light shining through the branches and the leaves. I smiled softly at it, reaching out to stroke one of its leaves that reached to the window. "I had another of those strange dreams again. I saw more this time, but it's still the same confusing array of pictures flash too quickly most of time. This time however I saw those boys from earlier today, the ones that saved me from those… things. What do you think they could've been?" I paused as if the tree was responding and sighed. "I was afraid of that. Well, at least I have you watching over me." I smiled at the tree and stepped back, closing the window.

It had become a habit of mine to talk the tree, ever since it had been tall enough to reach my window. I knew it was strong enough to hold my weight from experience so it had seemed natural to lay my troubles at its… roots, then it had become a habit just to start talking to it altogether. When Mom had become ill, the tree had been almost the only one that stood next to me. Until I met the twins that is. Once they had decided that I was worthy enough to be part of their group, they had taken it upon themselves to make sure I was well loved. Father immediately had decided that he was going to travel, so I had been left alone most of the time.

A ringing erupted out of nowhere, making me jump. I raced to the pants I had been wearing, having immediately thrown the clothes in corner and forgetting my phone when I had gotten home. I struggled with the pocket but quickly opened the phone. Closing an eye against the light, I answered. "Moshi, moshi."

"MIZUKI!" I quickly held the phone away from my ear when the twins voices blasted through. I smiled as they rattled off excuses for calling me, already heading over to the door. They had a remarkable ability of knowing exactly when to show up, so I came to the easy assumption that they were psychic and left it at that a long time ago. There were probably many different crazy people in the world after all. I unlocked the door, ignoring their rambling coming from the phone and opened it to find them at the door with Chinese food in their hands. They looked slightly surprised, Kana slowly lowering the phone she'd held up between them. Nana grinned, being the first to recover, and pushed past me.

"Alright, what's going on, girl? None of that "it's nothing", "you wouldn't understand", "I don't want to get you involved" bullshit either. We saw you at your window, talking to Ki*-sama. Spill." Kana's face hardened as she said the last word, placing the Chinese food on the table. Nana paused in her rummaging of the cabinet to pin me with the same expression as her sister. She placed the three plates she had in her hands on the table, folding her arms once they were empty. I groaned as I sank into a chair. Their determination surpassed everyone else's at school.

"I think something happened when I went to meet Shuichi the day I collapsed and was brought to the hospital. I try really hard to remember and when that fails, I try again and I can't get anything except I was supposed to meet him. I don't even remember the circumstances of how we were to meet." I sighed as I plopped into my seat. As I placed my head in my hands, I could hear the twins moving around and getting the food served and ready. "…Something strange happened… Something strange happened and it's interfering with my life."

"What do you mean?" Nana asked. "What could have possibly happened with Shuichi-kun?"

"I don't know, but ever since I've gotten out of the hospital I've… seen things… Things that couldn't possibly have been there at all." The twins exchanged a glance. It could be that I was just going crazy, I know, but they were going to figure it out sooner or later. I'd prefer it to be when I decided. "Lately, strangers have looked absolutely, unbelievably weird."

"Weird, how?" Kana handed me a fork and dug into the plate she placed in front of me.

"When I focus my eyes on them, they somehow have weird appendages one minute and when I look away, look absolutely normal the next. Today, I was even attacked by people with different colored skin." I slapped the table in my excitement and the twins looked up from their own food.

"Tell us everything." Nana urged. I took a deep breath, reminding myself that I could trust them. They were my friends through thick and thin, my confidantes, and my sisters.

"It started with these dreams…"

* * *

It was dark out and the red head at the desk was completely focused on his book. His emerald green eyes took in the events, quickly sorting out solutions in his head. The boy could hear his family settling down for the night, having already said their good nights. A slight frown grazed his lips as he heard giggling from his parents' room. _'That's the third time this week… Gods, I wish ear plugs worked.'_

There was a knock on the window and Shuichi Minamino looked up almost in relief, his eyes narrowing on his friends weary face. Hiei, his eyes darker than usual due to the hood covering a little of his face, opened the window slowly, allowing his feet to drop into the room first. He took in the books on the desk and the leftover food that sat next to it, pointedly ignoring the quiet giggling.

"We have a problem. The girl remembers some of the incident." He explained, unconsciously nodding to his friend when the red head placed the food in front of him. Shuichi's green eyes widened a little, his eyes turning away from the book he had begun reading again. Hiei swallowed the food before pulling out the water canteen he carried with him. "It's mostly in her dreams, but she's told her friends of what has been going on and about the incident from today."

"Have you been spying on her, Hiei?" Shuichi asked, watching his friend as he quickly glared at him.

"I do not find the importance of the question, Kurama. We have a problem." He stressed out the last word, wondering why he had to spell it out for him. The girl had told her friends, (as far as he could tell) normal female humans and the experience he had with girls revealed that the girls would want to talk about this to someone, another human, and spread the word. Normally that would mean that the girl they had saved was crazy, but if they ever came across a real demon they could spread the panic all around the world. Something spirit world wanted to avoid at all costs.

"I heard you the first time, Hiei. However, we cannot do anything until we speak to Koenma." The green eyed boy looked back at the book, his eyes growing slightly distant as he lost himself in his thoughts. He didn't really know the twins well, so he didn't see why they would tell on their friend whom they seemed… close with.

"You think the baby god can do something other than what he has already done?" Hiei looked skeptical, watching as his friend turned back to his book. Taking off his cloak, Hiei got comfortable at his spot. It smelt of lightning outside; he wasn't going anywhere for the moment.

"We shall see first thing tomorrow. We'll call the others when we wake to let them know. Until then, relax." Shuichi smiled, hearing the rustling of clothes coming from his friend. "I'm sure her friends will try to keep this quiet anyway. Adults usually do not listen to people younger than 30."

Hiei scoffed, rolling his eyes at the simplicity that allowed his friend to dismiss the current situation. He felt something was coming, something having to do with the blue eyed foal that they had saved, and somehow it was going to be big.

* * *

"You can't say anything about this to anyone!" Nana exclaimed as she and Kana got ready to leave. I rolled my eyes, letting her know how I stupid I thought that was. I knew if anyone else knew, I would be in deep shit. Those that saw things like what I was seeing were immediately shunned, assumed to be absolutely insane. A woman that had lived down the hall from me had even been dragged in bright daylight to a white van by two nurse looking buff guys while screaming "She's in my head. I swear it, she's talking to me". I could only imagine what would happen to me, what with my father's obsession with image. "Promise me."

"I promise! Gosh, I'm not an idiot, Nana. People would throw me into a looney bin the sooner they hear about it. I'm just glad I'm not the only one that knows about it now. Well, Ki-sama knows, but he wouldn't tell a soul." Kana laughed, embracing me as she walked past. "Have a safe walk home." They bade me good night, Nana demanding that I lock the door behind them. As they walked away, I could hear Kana teasing her twin for her "mothering" attitude. I smiled, locking the door behind them. Since the dishes were already clean, I walked to my room, my eyes suddenly weary. Maybe I was going to get a better sleep this time.

I turned on the light.

There on my window sill sat a white bird with red eyes, the tips of its wings lined with the purest looking gold. Its left ankle held a small golden circlet, its beak was a pale red, and its eyes were a very bright blue that glowed even in the artificial light of my room. Before my eyes it burst into flames, its cry piercing the night sorrowfully. After a few minutes, I slowly sunk to the floor, my thoughts from before vanishing into thin air. My hand slowly let the door knob go, dropping to my lap due to gravity. One of its feathers, pure white with the gold lining, floated slowly to the ground. My eyes were locked on that single evidence that it had been there, my mind racing.

How was… this possible? …Was it a phoenix, a creature of mythology and fantasy? Why would it come to me in such a way? What did it want with me? What did any of them want with me? I quickly came to the conclusion that every strange thing and event started after I went to the hospital. But what happened before it? Why did I collapse? Something happened with Shuichi-kun… and his friends. My dreams were telling me that, but what was it? And what happened to my memory? Why was it suddenly not there? I slowly placed my forehead on the cool surface of the door.

I needed to confront Shuichi. I abruptly stood, forcing my feet to the cell in the kitchen. I called his cell, glad that he himself had handed it to me when we had been partners in a school project. Otherwise, this would've been rather awkward. It rang only once.

"Tanami-san?" His cool voice spoke into my ear and I almost sagged in relief. He sounded distracted, but he answered. He was there.

"I'm confused…" I muttered, forgetting every one of the lines I had run in my head. I heard him whisper to someone, a gruff voice that had scoffed in the background. I wasn't going to even mention the bird. Maybe later, but at the moment… I needed to know. "Minamino-kun, I- I need to know what happened the day I… collapsed. Was… Was I attacked then too?"

"…Yes…" I vaguely noted the rather tired sigh that came from the other line as I looked over my shoulder at my room again. I wondered would my memories explain what just happened or would they confuse me even more? I could hear his calm breathing, which allowed me to slowly relax my muscles. "Tanami-san?"

"I know this may seem odd, Minamino-kun, but could you come over? Bring one of your friends if you want, but I need to ask some questions and I need to know them now." I hadn't realized the tension rising in my voice until I heard him moving.

"Tell me what happened." His voice sounded sharp as I heard clothes rustling. I couldn't help but blinked with how quickly he got serious but explained what I had just seen. It took several minutes for him to answer, a dazed confusion emanating over the phone. Finally, something that didn't seem normal to him… "I'll be on my way." There was a distinct click that sounded from the phone and I sighed, shaking my head as I made my way to my room. Closing the window and making sure all of my locks were up I moved through the house. After that was done and I had grabbed my fathers prized metal bat from his room, I sat in the kitchen to wait. I didn't care if I had to beat the information out of the handsome redhead that caught my attention; he had the information I needed and I was going to get it. No matter what the cost was.


	8. Chapter 8: Explanations

**Chapter 8: Explanations**

It was the light knocking at the door that startled Mizuki, not the clanking the metal bat made when she suddenly jolted from her seat at the kitchen table. She may or may not have fallen asleep in her seat while waiting for Shuichi-san and she didn't know how she felt about that. She quickly crossed to the door, dragging the stepladder with her. She stood on it and looked out the peephole. Mizuki took note of Hiei, the red eyed boy who'd ultimately been the one who had killed the blue skinned girl, and Shuichi-san. Shuichi looked as calm as ever, shaking the umbrella in his hand of the rain drops that still clung to it. Hiei looked restless, his feet unable to stay still. She sighed, putting the stepladder away to allow them in.

"Where is the damned bird?" Hiei demanded, the first thing that had come to his mind immediately making its way to his mouth. The girl looked slightly surprised, her blue eyes widening almost imperceptibly. She sent Shuichi a slightly annoyed look, before heading to her room.

"It's not here anymore, but it left behind a feather." She explained, opening the door of her room. Everything was still closed, thankfully, and when the light was turned on, it illuminated the golden feather that still lay on the floor of her room. "I didn't know what to do with it." Hiei grunted, moving forward to pick it up. In a surprising move that only surprised Mizuki-san, he gently picked it up with his index finger and his thumb. He ignored her stare as he handed the fragile feather to Shuichi, who placed it in a small black bag. "What are you going to do with it?"

"We'll bring it to a friend of ours," Shuichi-san explained, ignoring the snort that came from his friend. "I'm sure he'll know what to do with it. You said it just caught fire as you were walking in?"

Mizuki nodded, turning her head away. She didn't trust her voice not to sound absolutely weak in front of them, but she knew they were going to ask her questions. Just like she was going to ask them some of her own. She watched as the black bag disappeared into Shuichi's coat pocket, and then showed them to the kitchen. Hiei made himself comfy on her counter, while Shuichi took a seat at the table. She was silently glad both had taken their shoes off; she didn't even want to think of the dirt trails that would've tracked throughout her house.

"Would you both like some tea?" She asked, ignoring the expecting looks of them both. Mizuki had decided that she was going to take control of this, no matter what they did.

"Yes please, Tanami-san." Shuichi-san sent her a gentle smile. Hiei shook his head, just now taking note of the metal bat still grasped in her hands. Hiei caught Shuichi-san eye and flicked his gaze to the bat and back. Shuichi took note of it with a worried frown. "Tanami-san? Did something else happen before we got here?"

"Oh, um, no. I just had it in case something did happen…" She muttered, leaning the bat against a corner of the kitchen. Shuichi raised his eyebrows slightly, wondering if more demons had visited her than they thought. Mizuki turned to the cabinets, rummaging through it until she found the tea bags. She reached past Hiei to get to the honey, standing on the tips of her toes to reach it. Her arm brushed his shoulder and she couldn't help the flinch that came over her. With a sigh, the blue eyed girl lowered her arm, the honey bottle in her hands. Hiei turned his head, ignoring the anger that swept through his body like hot lava. "Sorry. Your skin is very warm; have you got a fever?"

Before Hiei could say anything, her small hand was on his forehead, trying to gauge his temperature. His eyes flicked to her in mild shock, watching as she looked at him in concern. "It feels like he's got a fever, Minamino-san. Why would you take him out in the rain?" She turned angry eyes to Shuichi-san, who looked somewhat amused. He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips at the small blush that had taken over his friend's cheeks at the girls ministrations. "Well?"

"Hiei's temperature runs a lot higher than ours, Tanami-san." He replied, smiling still. She blinked in surprise, before looking at the boy who was pushing her hand away with a glare. He turned his glare at her and she watched as he looked almost like he wanted to pout. "You need not worry about his temperature."

"What if he was sick?" She asked. She had already placed a teapot on the burner; all she needed to do was turn on the burner. Silence met her question and she turned with a raised eyebrow. Both boys were looking away with a blush, their eyes looking everywhere but her. Her eyebrows furrowed to show her confusion. "What?"

"Maybe it would be best if you put some shorts on, Tanami-san?" Shuichi muttered, pointedly only looking at her face. Her cheeks immediately burned in embarrassment and she took off down the hall. She had only been wearing the somewhat long shirt that reached her thighs. When she had reached for the honey, she supposed it had risen a little too far and hadn't gone down. She picked up jeaned shorts that she had on a chair and went back to the kitchen, ignoring the fact that her cheeks were still red. "Now I need you to tell u-"

"I'm sorry, Minamino-kun, but you seem to be mistaken." She smiled at his raised eyebrows. "You will not be the ones taking charge. I will be the one asking questions, which you will answer truthfully and to the best of your ability. When I am satisfied that I have no more questions, then and only then will you be able to ask questions."

"Look Human. You do not-" Hiei tried to say that she did not tell them what to do, but she had sent him a glare and spoken over him.

"No you look. I have been attacked, more than once, my attackers were apparently not human, I've had a dying phoenix at my window, I haven't been sleeping all that good because of dreams where I see you guys and some weird ass doctor looking creature bending towards me with a fucking needle, I've woken up from the hospital from something I don't even know, and no one is telling me anything. Plus the bitch from earlier kept saying some really encrypted words that just made me feel really uneasy." She sat down at the table, tucking one leg underneath as she got comfortable.

"She was saying things to you?" Shuichi-san asked, watching the girl as she ran a hand through her hair. Her hair, which was normally neatly in a braid or ponytail, was messy and framed her face, showing that she must have just gotten out of bed. There were indeed dark circles underneath her eyes, making her look even more tired combined with the weariness of her expression. She nodded, clearly a little distracted with her thoughts. The teapot made itself known with a screech and she jumped, knocking the chair over as she ran to stop the noise. "Are you alright, Tanami-san?"

"…I'm just really confused about a lot of things that are going on right now." She muttered, turning her attention to pouring the tea. She placed Shuichi-san's cup in front of him and picked up her chair again, dropping into once her cup was down. Hiei lifted an eyebrow and she sighed. "I've been seeing things that are really strange to me. Hell, strange things are happening _to_ me."

"We will answer your questions." Hiei muttered, ignoring the sharp gaze that Shuichi-san sent him. "However, if you speak to anyone of what you hear, I will spill your blood." Shuichi sighed, shaking his head at his friend. Mizuki looked surprised, but suddenly couldn't hold back a laugh that erupted from her lips. She sent them an almost appalled look as she got control of herself, turning her head away quickly. "What is so funny?"

"I'm sorry. I think everything is catching up to me." She ran her hand down her face with a deep sigh, her eyes closing to give herself a moment to collect herself.

"It's understandable, after all that has happened to you." Shuichi smiled gently, nudging her cooling cup towards her. She shot him a small smile, taking the drink he offered. "Just take it slow and speak when you feel you can."

It took her at least five minutes for her to actually calm her head, the hurricane that was her mind making it a little harder than usual. They sat in silence, simply waiting for her to speak. Hiei moved to the table, sitting in the seat farthest from the other two, but across from the girl. She was close to crumbling; he could see it in the way she had to place her head down on the table. Her messy hair hid her face all too well, making him oddly antsy. However, he had felt restless and unwell ever since he and his friend had stepped out in the rain. He liked the rain most of the time, but at the moment it left behind a stifling feeling that confused him.

Shuichi felt a little restless as well, but not because of the rain. He was a little concerned for the black haired girl who looked like she was breaking down right in front of him. Koenma would not answer any of his questions of what was in her file that attracted the demons to her. The attack on her today had been a lot more dangerous than the time before; she had been able to get away from the demon. This time, they had been almost too late. He eyed her, wondering if she had gotten any proper care for the wound on her throat. He doubted she'd even thought about the wound once it stopped bleeding.

"Does this happen around you a lot?" She asked, lifting her head so they could understand her. Her eyes were expressionless, making them wonder what she was thinking about. Her blue eyes seemed to darken with emotion, yet they couldn't say what emotion had caught up with her. Shuichi nodded, making sure to keep a straight face. She looked away. "What were they?"

"Demons." Hiei replied, watching the girl for any reactions. She nodded, for what they didn't know, but they assumed it was to show she was processing the information.

"Where do they come from?" Her voice had dropped almost to a whisper.

"The Makai and no it is not hell, though many would think so." Mizuki turned her head sharply to look at Shuichi-san, her eyes begging him to explain himself. "There are three worlds; the Makai (Demon world), the Ningenkai (Human world), and the Reikai (Spirit world)."

"Reikai, do you mean like where dead people go?" She looked a little confused, her blue eyes widening.

"Yes. The Reikai also makes sure that humans are safe from demons. I'm sure once Koenma learns that you are still being attacked, he'll try to help you every way that he can." Shuichi sent her a comforting smile, hoping that was the end of the questions.

"Who's Koenma? Is he that purple creature thing that I see in my dreams?" Both boys couldn't help the chuckles that escaped their lips when they thought of Koenma's reaction to the comparison. "What is so funny?"

"The "creature" is a type of demon called an ogre; they work for Koenma, the prince of the Reikai." Shuichi explained, watching as her cheeks turned pink. He waved off her apology gently. "It's alright; you didn't know."

"Did I meet Koenma before?" She asked, watching them nervously. They both nodded. "Did he take my memories away?"

"…Yes." Shuichi looked down at the cup in his hands, waiting for her to blame them for her not knowing that she was being attacked. After all, they all had agreed that they were going to take her memories away; it had just been by Koenma's procedures. If they had known that she was still being targeted, they would not have tried to shelter her. Even though it had turned out a mistake, they should've figured something like this. He sighed, closing his eyes as he waited.

"The bird was a phoenix, am I right?" Both boys blinked, Shuichi looking up in surprise. They watched as she stood to pace. It was silent for a couple moments with just her pacing. Hiei huffed in annoyance and she stopped to send him a silent glare. "What did it want with me?"

"We will try to figure that out when we go to Koenma for answers. It's very rare for Phoenixes to move far from their homes, especially in that way. It's also strange that we didn't see it's infant form." Shuichi looked towards her room, wondering if they had missed it.

"I was wondering that as well…" Mizuki muttered, pacing again. "Okay, let's see if I've got this right. There are such things as different worlds; one of them deals with the dead. Demons are real; Hiei is a demon. Dem-"

"How did you know Hiei was a demon? That wasn't one of your questions." Shuichi asked. Mizuki couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Well, he's got red eyes. He's really fast, he's called me a human which implies that he's not human, and his temperature a hell of a lot hotter than humans. He looks remarkably human, yes, but I bet you there are a lot of human traits that he has that I can't see," She stated, thoroughly proud of herself for thinking of it. "Well, I have one more question and then it's your turn."

"Go on." Shuichi made a "carry on" gesture that made Mizuki grin as she settled herself once more at her seat. Now that she got most of her questions out, she felt a lot better.

"Is it possible to get my memories back?" She asked, her blue eyes catching Shuichi's green eyes and holding him there. She looked decidedly determined.

"…You want your memories back?" Hiei asked, looking away from the surprised faces of the other two. He saw, in the corner of his eye, the slow nod that the human girl produced, her eyes focused on him. He inwardly smirked, but then had to berate himself. Let his friend have her, what did he care? She walked over to him, noticing that his focus was on other things. She slowly inched towards him, a small smirk on her lips. Shuichi-san looked confused, wondering what in the world his classmate thought she was going to do. Hiei would catch her before she could even touch him, so it wasn't possible to catch him unaware. She got close enough to reach his neck, running the very tip of her finger down the middle of his nape. He jerked away, an involuntary shiver running through him. The two boys looked absolutely astonished, watching as the girl laughed at her success. "You don't get your memories back."

Mizuki stopped laughing in surprise, her wide eyes latching onto his angry face. "What? Just 'cause I was joking around?!" Shuichi couldn't help the chuckle that came from his friends pouting behavior. Mizuki suddenly latched herself to his front, begging him to "hand over her memories". Although he hadn't seen this kind of behavior from her before, he could only correctly assume that it came from the two girls that were her friends. He had many times seen the taller twins wrapped around her, begging for something-or-other, which she mostly refused.

"Alright, alright, get off of me!" Hiei finally erupted, smacking the fists her hands had made in his shirt. She looked up at him in a grin, the "tears" suddenly vanishing. She thanked him with a suffocating hug, rendering him breathless in no time. "Onna, if you insist on this behavior, I will not only refuse to give you back your memories, I will also beat your head in."

"Oh, you're so grumpy," she stated, quickly going back to her seat. She sent a playful wink to Shuichi who shook his head. Hiei sighed, moving forward to grasp her head with both of his hands. She watched his eyes close. A dimmed white light came from behind the white headband that wrapped around his head, showing in a shape of an eye. She couldn't tilt her head, which she normally would do, but she reached up and touch the near the light. It emanated from the middle of his forehead, which was rather odd to her. Then she felt something in her head, literally something moving through her head, and it felt like something released. She suddenly had to close her own eyes as this nauseating feeling swept over her.

"Give her a moment, Fox. I forgot to tell her to close her eyes." Hiei muttered, a smug tone sounding behind his normal tones. Shuichi snorted, knowing full well that his friend had done so on purpose. He noticed, however odd it seemed, that his friend still had both hands on her head, his thumbs lightly massaging her temples. He narrowed his eyes at the sight, watching as the girls shoulders slowly relaxed until she looked up with a smile.

'_He should keep his hands off of her…' _He caught a growl in surprise, turning it into a cough so the other two didn't notice. When had he gotten possessive over her? She was her own… Was that a pheromone he detected? He turned his gaze to Mizuki who thanked Hiei with a smile and looked at him to begin the questioning. A scent wafted over to him, the smell of fresh rain and what he thought at first to be some kind of flower, but he quickly deduced it was some sort of fruit. The smell was sweet and succulent, making him want to wrap himself in-

"I believe it is time for us to leave." He stated, standing so abruptly that the chair he had been seating in fell over. Both of his companions looked up at him in surprise, Hiei arching an eyebrow. "It's very late and I promised my mother I would be back very soon."

"You did-" Hiei glared at the boy currently tugging him towards the door, already bidding the girl goodbye without hearing any of her protests. _'What the hell do you think you are doing, Fox?'_

'_Do you not smell that?' _His friend asked, pulling on his shoes as he yet again told the girl goodbye. Hiei followed in kind, slanting a look as he gruffly bade the girl goodbye. Shuichi clearly read the annoyance and curiosity brimming in his friends' eyes and he sighed as they walked out the door. Once they were a good bit away from the girls' apartment, he let out a breath he had been holding. _'She's in heat.'_

Hiei looked at his friend sharply, having to strain slightly to hear over all of the people in the crowd on the sidewalks. _'She's human, Fox. How could she possibly be in heat?'_ Someone bumped into him and he sent his friend an annoyed look as he pushed the drunken woman off him. They sped towards their goal, not looking anywhere but ahead to avoid someone trying to get their attentions.

'_That is what I want to know…'_


	9. Chapter 9: Something Odd

Chapter 9: Something Odd

It had been hard to fall asleep after the two boys had left so suddenly. Minamino-kuns' eyes had held a sense of urgency that was rarely ever seen outwardly. I had tried to ask, but both boys had been half way out of the door by the time I had even opened my mouth. It had taken me hours to calm myself, but I was glad for my memories. They explained the dreams and truthfully, I was probably more prepared now. At least I hoped so. They did not, however, explain the fact that I was able to see what I've seen and why the demons were attacking me.

In the morning, after the roughest sleep that I could remember having, the twins stopped by to make sure that I was still there and unharmed. They fussed over the bags under my eyes, the dishes that I had forgotten to do, and the messiness of my clothes. (I had ended up falling asleep in the shorts that I had pulled on, a rarity for me.) I refrained from telling them of what had transpired after they left and instead tidied up and gone with them to a shop that had recently opened. I wasn't a shopper, but the twins were and they demanded my appearance every time.

"Honestly, Mizuki, I don't see why you don't wear dresses and skirts outside of school." Nana stated sadly. "You'd look so good in them." She sighed when all I did was huff and turn away from the others in the store. Since I had woken up, I had felt more and more restless. The need to move, to do something, swept through my bones and yet I couldn't figure out what it was. I had refrained from calling Shuichi-kun, simply because I was afraid of his answer. He had realized something last night, I could see it in his eyes, and he had been surprised by his discovery. Anything that could take the prince of Meio by surprise is nothing good.

"You know how she is about them, sis." Kana replied, placing a hanger back on the rack, the shirt it had on in her arms. Kana, thankfully, chose the things she liked and kept with her choices. Nana spent forever to make up her mind and just as long to keep it. "Besides, it'd be weird to see her in a skirt outside of school. It might very well be the sign of the apocalypse." As she and her sister laughed, I playfully punched her arm with a mock scowl.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see that people were looking at us. Several men were watching us interact with each other. Some of the older women watched us with fond memories dancing in their eyes, while many others glared at us for raising our voices. I sighed as I looked away. The stares were giving me the creeps and I could feel the goose bumps running up my arm.

"We need to leave soon…" I muttered, my eyes slanting away from everyone. Kana raised an eyebrow and I smiled jokingly. "Let's see about steering Nana towards the darker clothes." We both grinned and set to work. I was momentarily distracted from the persistent staring.

/O_ O\\\\\\\\

As predicted Nana took forever, so it was almost noon by the time we left. Because of the distractions, my mood was a lot better. I still couldn't hold still, but the feeling was a lot less. A tingly sensation rushed up my spine as we ordered our ice cream and I looked behind me, trying to figure out what it was before it appeared out of no-where like the demons from yesterday. I was at the park again, but thankfully not alone and at a different spot. The twins and I were getting ice cream from a vender we'd see; a normal treat that came after hours in a shop with Nana. I was not looking forward to anyone ruining this somewhat good day.

"Can you believe it, Mizuki?" Nana asked, taking a small bite of the white vanilla cone. I lifted an eyebrow as I did the same with my mint chocolate. "Geez, She's not even listening, Kana. That guy was totally flirting with us and you completely didn't even noticed did you?"

"Guy? What guy?" I asked, my eyes widening a little. The twins let out somewhat loud gasps of disbelief, pointing behind them at the same time. I smiled with a wave at the decidedly cute boy that had served us our ice creams. He nodded coolly, a light pink brushing his cheeks. Once we started walking again, I sighed. "I just wasn't even paying attention, you guys, sorry."

"Well, that's been obvious. Is it about what you told us yesterday?" Kana asked. She was somehow almost finished with her chocolate ice cream, only a small smudge of it at the corner of her mouth. "If it is, then don't worry about it; we took you out for a reason. And –Nana, stop with the napkin! I can clean my own face, geez." She batted her sister's hand away, turning her head away to keep the napkin away from her.

"Well, if you would eat like a civilized human being, maybe I wouldn't have to carry napkins with me all time." I laughed as I watched the twins interact, Nana's cone almost dripping onto her fingers because of the sun. Kana sent me a glare and a plea of help and I declined. When Nana was in "mother mode", it was best not to get in her way. "Honestly Kana, you can be such a piglet."

"Tanami-san? Noemi-sans." A voice was heard behind me and we turned, the twins blushing when they saw it was Shuichi-kun. I took note of the hospital mask and instantly was worried. He normally never gets sick. Next to him, his friends stood with him, watching the twins step closer to me. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Shuichi-kun. Are you feeling okay?" Nana asked. She ignored the sarcastic "Of course he is" from her sister and ignored the look I sent her. He nodded, unconsciously bringing his hand to the mask. "It's not contagious, is it?"

"Nah, if it was contagious, you bet your ass I'd be hauling the other way." Yusuke, a cocky grin on his face, eyed the twins next to me. "He's just being cautious is all."

"And you are?" Kana inquired, her voice colder than I've heard her in a long time. Apparently, the appearance of the unknown boys sent her on high alert. She recognized the strangely red eyed boy, but the other two stood like delinquents, their hands in their pockets and their hair slicked back. She suddenly remembered hearing about a tall red haired delinquent.

"I'm Kazuma Kuwabara, the best delinquent in town." Kuwabara exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. Next to him, Yusuke chuckled and shook his head. The other two boys looked at him with amused doubt, though Hiei somehow hid it behind contempt.

"Yeah, in your dreams, Kuwabara. We all know that people actually run away from me; they see you and think of fluffy kittens." The brown eyed boy dressed in jeans and a green button shirt, which it seemed all of them had decided to go with that scheme (in varying shades of color), smirked cockily and raised an arm to show off his muscles. "I can beat anyone, anytime and everywhere."

"Tch, you're just trying to show off now, Urameshi. We all know that I'm stronger than you by a long shot; you just get lucky." Urameshi and Hiei snorted in amusement, their eyes showing their doubts. "What?! It's true!"

"I'm Yusuke Urameshi." He, finally acknowledging us, shot us a cocky grin, almost as though he was expecting the twins to know who he was by name. When the two girls just looked at him with unimpressed expressions, he faltered. "You know, the delinquent?"

"Um, are you friends of Minamino-kun?" Nana asked, her eyes a little wide as she stared at them. Shuichi-kun nodded, sending his friends an amused glance. Hiei however looked like he'd eaten something sour or possibly swallowed a bug, I couldn't decide. "Um, would you like to join us?"

"We're just hanging out until we find something to do." Kana muttered, smiling now that she knew them. They did seem a lot more trusting as they joked around with each other. I couldn't understand why in the world anyone would be afraid of Yusuke at all.

"That sounds like a good idea. Ladies shouldn't be out alone around these parts." Kuwabara smiled, his expression open and inviting. A flare of something orange to the left of his head caught my eye, but every time I tried to focus on it, the thing would disappear.

Oblivious to my growing frustration, Kana narrowed her eyes at him, but let it pass as she caught the eyes of a boy walking passed. He eyed her appraisingly and I glared, grabbing hold of her arm as we followed Nana and Kuwabara who had already started to walk. Yusuke sent the kid his own glare, refusing to move until the kid hurried away from us. He sent me a grin when he caught my eye and I smiled appreciatively. I didn't like the way the kid looked and apparently neither had he.

We walked around for what felt like hours, sightseeing and just having a good time. Finally, the twins were called home and Kuwabara and Yusuke were elected to walk them. Since Yusuke's girlfriend lived near there and Kuwabara apparently lived near there as well, they agreed rather quickly and the four were off. Nana had made me promise to call her as soon as I got home before she left and the two men I was to travel with were failing to hide their amusement as they walked along next to me.

"It's not that funny!" I exclaimed, turning my head to look at both of them. Hiei didn't even bother with hiding his smirk and Shuichi-kun couldn't help but chuckle a little at my outburst. I sent them both glares, walking ahead of them as I turned a corner. Sadly, they kept pace with me rather well, given the fact they had longer legs than me. "Nana just gets worried about me, that's all."

"Your parents do not hold the same sentiments?" Shuichi-kun asked, his eyes twinkling with mirth behind his mask. I looked away quickly, effectively hiding the blush that had crept over my face. Something warm swam through me, almost rendering me breathless, but I fought against it. It was a familiar feeling, but somehow felt stronger. "Tanami-san?"

"My father is too busy travelling and my mother died when I was younger…" I muttered, the feeling fading somewhat at the memory. It simmered in the back of my mind, but I was able actually focus on a conversation. At least, I hoped so. "The twins have been there for me for what feels like forever."

"Your father does not visit you?" Shuichi-kun watched as I shook my head, my eyes straying towards the tree in front of my house. We were only a few blocks away from Ki-sama and I wanted so desperately to just run into my room and lock the door until the strange feeling went away. I hadn't been able to ask anyone about it, but I knew it was strange. I refrained from doing so, seeing as the boys were still here but I did quicken my pace.

"He stops by to pick up some more clothes or laundry, but that's about it. He doesn't like to stay for very long." I explained, shrugging my shoulders as the boys shared a look. Something dark purple flared to my left and I turned my head, catching Hiei's eye. He raised his eyebrow as I searched all around him. Just like with Kuwabara, I could not completely focus on the color.

"Are you alright?" Shuichi-kun was looking at me with a calculated look, his eyes narrowing at the look of confusion and frustration that spread over my face. I nodded wearily, sighing as something green caught my eye.

"Do random colors normally float around you guys?" I bluntly asked, letting my frustration show on my face. They shared a confused look before both sent me the looks, their eyes imploring me to explain myself. "I'm sorry, but I keep seeing random colors floating around you guys and I'm not sure what they are. Every time I try to actually focus on them, they just disappear."

"Are the colors just floating around?" Shuichi-kun asked, his eyes suddenly serious. I nodded. He nodded as well and motioned for me to lead the way to my home. I blinked twice but assented, allowing them to follow me up. He waited until we sat at the table in my kitchen, cooling teacups in front of us. "I believe what you are seeing, Tanami-san, may possibly be our auras. Depending on who we are and how we act around others, our auras are effected by basically anything. Our emotions, past, species, sex, character, etc."

"Who can normally see them?" I asked, swirling the spoon in my cup to mix the herbs in the tea. They floated near the top and I watched as they danced before spiraling down towards the bottom.

"Anyone can. As long as they have the proper training. However, demons and spiritually aware humans seem to have that ability without any training at all. It's mostly used as a defense mechanism." Shuichi-kun smiled awkwardly at me, looking as though he wanted to assure me of something. Possibly of the fact that I'm not weird.

"So you're saying I could be one of those spiritually aware people?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. He slowly nodded, looking like he wanted to say something. "What?"

"…It's just a little odd that the ability is just now coming to you." The normally stoic and laid-back red head squirmed slightly in his seat, refusing to meet my eyes. Hiei kept his eyes on his own drink, refusing to say or do anything. He seemed to stiffen or move away from me every time I spoke or moved closer to him. I was beginning to think I smelled or something.

"Hm. Have you any news about why the phoenix came to my house?" I asked, leaning back in my chair as they both stiffened. Shuichi-kun's jaw tightened rather quickly, his eyes suddenly heated by anger.

"Koenma has refused to answer any of our questions until he himself figures something out." Shuichi muttered, his lips tightening with distaste. Hiei's fist tightened around his cup and I quickly grabbed his wrist, already seeing signs of cracks on the outside of the cup. I pulled it from his hand and set it in the middle, quickly doing the same with Shuichi-kun's cup just in case.

"Does he like to do this a lot?" I asked, noticing the fact that Hiei had taken his hand from the table. I supposed he was going to treat me like a leper for whatever reason. I hoped it was a good one. Shuichi-kun looked away, his hand coming up to touch the cloth covering the lower part of his face. He still looking angry as hell, but it seemed to be fading somewhat.

"Yes. It seems to be his favorite past time." Shuichi-kun muttered, his eyes straying to his cup. He hadn't been drinking from it at all, refusing to take the cloth off, just been using it to do something with his hands. Now that it was gone, he couldn't seem to find a way to sit still until he finally remembered his jacket. I sent him an odd look, but he chose ignore it. "Everything has been alright since yesterday?"

I narrowed my eyes at the two. "What in the world is going on?"

* * *

Sorry for such a long wait! I had the worst case of laziness and writers block in the world and I had no idea what to write. I apologize if this was not up to your satisfaction, but rest assured that the next chapter will be finished and posted a lot sooner than this one had been. Let me know how you like it and let me know whether or not I should change something. Thanks for waiting! And also thank you for reading. You guys are awesome and I hope you'll stay with me as the story progresses. Also, I might be changing the rating soon.


	10. Chapter 10: Determination

**Chapter 10: Determination**

Mizuki glared at the boys sitting across from her. They refused to meet her confused eyes, choosing instead to stare at the walls around them. They were taking note of the rather bare walls and shelves around them. Well, Shuichi was. Hiei, however, chose to keep his ruby eyes closed, his head tilted slightly so to make it appear that he was calm and on the verge of sleep. He may have looked like he was relaxed in his chair, if it weren't for the slight tenseness of his shoulders. Shuichi seemed to be under the same condition as well, which had happened every time she went somewhere near the two while they had been with the others.

"Did you learn anything new about me?" She asked, her cyan blue eyes catching the way they both seemed to stiffen. Her voice had been almost a whisper and yet they had treated it as though she had yelled. Shuichi's emerald eyes landed on her, his expression unreadable with the mask. "Seriously, guys, what the hell is wrong? Did I do something that made you uncomfortable?"

"Unfortunately, that is not it at all." Shuichi-kun sighed somewhat apologetically, raising his hand to remove the mask. Hiei cracked an eye, only to do a double take as he watched his friend remove the mask entirely. Feeling as though a morbid curiosity had washed over him, Shuichi-kun reached across the table. He slowly took a strand of her black hair in his hand and lifted it to his face, taking in the fresh rain and fruit scent wafting from her delicately. Both Hiei and Shuichi-kun heard the shaking breath that came through her slightly parted lips and he met her startled eyes, the blue lighting up as though hot flames were sweeping through them.

He allowed himself a shiver as he let the strands slide from his grasp. Mizuki looked about ready to bolt. Hiei watched them with curiosity, lifting his cup from the middle of the table to watch the "amusing" show. Somehow they were all trembling, yet Hiei hid it best. Mizuki's scent wafted through the air like the aroma of a crisp just-out-of-oven pie, almost ready to be eaten. It wrapped around them enticingly, her uncertainty making her look more innocent.

Tempting them.

They refrained themselves. Both males could tell she wasn't ready yet. Not because of the quivering of her body or the fearful uncertainty in her eyes. No, those were not even considered. It was her aura, her almost-finished-cooling aroma. It was the way her energy sparkled just underneath her skin, but not quite reached past the barrier of the outer layer of her body. It was shifting behind her eyes, wanting to be released from the shell that kept it hostage.

She had no idea about this energy floating somewhere inside her. She somehow was not aware of it until just recently and they had to be cautious with how they tried to get her to understand something's. They could tell that if they made one wrong step in helping her, she would bolt. She would run from everyone that could help her and they would lose their chance to figure out what mayhem was twisting in her path.

"Tanami-san." Shuichi smiled, ignoring the urge to touch her hair again. He was testing his limits already, the pheromones wafting from her swirling cobwebs in his head. She caught his eyes, blue meeting green. "We want to help you with whatever you need, but you need to promise me something."

"And this something is?" Her voice was surprisingly calm compare to her conflicted eyes. He almost sighed in relief. She was going to listen to him well, at least for now. Hopefully, he did not send her skittering away in fear.

"You need to listen to us." He noticed her eyes somehow shutting down, her eyes darkening, and he placed his hand on her arm. "I mean it, Tanami-san. You do need to listen. There will be more demons to come and, if you do not listen, you might get hurt. People close to you might get hurt and that is something that we would like to avoid at all costs."

"…Koenma hasn't explained anything to you at all?" She asked, her eyes suddenly sparking in anger. She looked at Hiei as well, hoping for explanations. If someone was going to go after the twins, she wanted to know. They were the only ones she needed to worry about. They shook their eyes, eyeing her as she suddenly stood from her seat. She paced for a moment, her hands twisting in her hair. Her eyes flashed again. "You're sure they would go after those that I care about?"

"That is what I would do if I was to try to lure someone out." Hiei replied. She stopped, narrowing her blue eyes at him for only a moment before turning around. She headed to the black and white counter and grabbed the black phone. She held out her hand sharply when she heard them both move, dialing the number that she'd memorized by heart. Her mind was pulled in two directions, wanting to pull away to keep them safe and wanting to keep them close. She knew she could not pull away. It would break her more than she wanted to admit. She would not be able to survive if something like that were to happen.

"Moshi, Mizu!"Nana cried happily. Mizuki smiled wanly as she heard Kana shout from somewhere behind Nana. Suddenly rustling was heard through the phone. Kana greeted her, shouting a little to be heard over Nana's shouting in the background. Mizuki relaxed slowly talking to them about what had happened on their walk home and other little tidbits that they could think of. She finally fully relaxed when they were talking of meeting Yusuke and Kuwabara again tomorrow, this time meeting Yusuke's girl and their mutual friends. She needed to know they were safe. She may not have seen much, but Yusuke and Kuwabara seemed perfectly capable of watching her friends.

"So why did you call?" Kana asked, her tone turning serious. Mizuki sighed. Shuichi watched as her shoulders lost some more of their tension.

"It turns out that you guys might get put into danger because of me. I want to make sure you guys know this before anything else happens." The boys froze behind her. Sudden heat was near her back, but she ignored it. Hiei gave an ignored growl of annoyance. "Where are you and the others meeting?"

"His trainers' temple. You remember that pink headed old lady who we saw at the park?" Mizuki laughed, remembering the look the girls had given the woman after she had sent two small pebbles at a pair of boys rudely staring at her. They had taken off, clutching their foreheads and the twins had ran off not long after that. I had bowed at her, not wanting the same fate, and she had reacted in kind, continuing on her leisurely way. "Oh shut up you! You could have just told us not to stare like you normally do!"

"Ah, but where would the fun be in that, silly?" Mizuki responded, her tone lightening up from the serious tone she had adopted throughout the phone call. She smiled when she heard the twins' hisses of "betrayal" and listened to their cries of indignity. "Anyway, I'll have Minamino-kun and Jaganshi-kun take me to the temple tomorrow as well. Don't do anything stupid!"

"That was one time, Mizu! Give it up!" Nana yelled, her cries almost drowned out by her sister's loud laughter. The girls finally said good night, Mizuki and Kana still chuckling a little bit, and Mizuki put her phone back on the receiver. She turned to look at the boys sitting back at her kitchen table. Shuichi watched her with an unreadable expression, catching the relaxed way she held herself now. Hiei watched as she almost lazily dropped into the seat that she had abandoned half an hour ago.

"They need to know everything if I am what's involving them. If so much as a hair is touched on their heads, I'll kill whoever did it. They are the ones I care about." Shuichi-kun almost let out a chuckle at the fierce look on her face as leaned toward them, thinking that maybe they had misunderstand her character just a little bit. He did smile as he let himself lean back in his chair, glittering emerald eyes watching her.

"We will do all we can to keep that from happening, Tanami-san." He reminded her. Hiei huffed, irritated at the involuntary volunteering of his services, but did nothing else. "Are there any questions that we might be able to answer?"

"Why have you two been so weird around me?" She asked, the only question that she still had. Shuichi-kun sighed and shared a look with Hiei. She had relaxed again, but now she tensed a little, wondering if they possibly wouldn't respond.

"We're not entirely sure why, but you are giving off a certain scent that is like a…aphrodisiac to most demons…Mostly of the opposite sex. We're not entirely sure why this is, but we're hoping when Koenma finally answers our questions that he'd answer that as well. It is not very common for a human to give off that kind of scent and so, naturally, we're a little concerned." Mizuki felt a little frozen to her seat upon hearing that they could _smell_ her. A smell that humans don't normally send out either…

"Who normally gives off that kind of scent?" She was a little fearful of the answer, but she needed it. She needed as much information as they would give her. If they refused, she'd probably go insane. The boys shared a longer look, making her antsy. Her world was turning upside down more and more by the second. She remembered being normal and now it seemed like someone was just throwing things at her one after another. Was it something she did in a past life? Was it Karma just catching up to her or was Fate just cackling cruelly as she struggled to stay strong?

"Normally, it's only demons that give off these kind of scents, but I'm sure that there are some humans that have those scents too." Shuichi tried to reassure the increasingly frightened looking girl across him, patting her trembling hands lightly as he did. She wasn't used to any of this yet and it frightened her. He could see it in her eyes. He couldn't blame her, of course. He suspected that if he hadn't been born with the memories of his past, he probably would have been on the verge of breaking down himself. Hiei was keeping track of her moods for him, allowing them to know what was too much for the girl and what wasn't enough. She needed to be a little afraid, otherwise she might not listen to them enough, but she didn't need to be so afraid that she wanted to hide away.

"So you're saying I could be a really special human or a demon. How exactly is that even possible?" She asked incredulously. She was pretty sure all the people in her family were humans, her mother had been human, and her father (though he may act like a beast) was human as well. None of her family has ever had powers that she knew of anyway, and never commented on anything wrong with her or her parents. (Though sometimes her grandparents will team up against her father and try to get him to man up and be a father.)

"Yes. Those are the only explanations we could come up with." The green eyed boy was watching her face, waiting for it to crumble. She surprised him by straightening her shoulders, shaking her head as if to send bad thoughts away and stood. She placed her hands on her hips, allowed herself a breath, and exhaled slowly.

"What should I do?" She asked, her blue eyes suddenly electrified. Mizuki Tanami wasn't going to back down from this; if her friends were going to be put in danger than she needed to make sure she could keep them safe. She was going to keep themselves safe, even while being selfish and keeping them close. And she was going to make the two boy/men in front of her help.


	11. Chapter 11: Am I Human?

Chapter 11: Am I Human?

I was staring down the large double doors that lead to Koenma's office when Botan found me. I may or may not have been standing there for a good thirty minutes trying to sum up the courage to knock and demand answers. Ogres were passing by me left and right, the herd of the last group separating around me like a flowing river separated around a standing tree in its way. They had barely spared me a glance, too worried about getting the papers they carried signed by the prince of the spirit world. I hadn't even been able to spot the brown haired boy in the growing pile of papers overflowing his already full desk.

"Mizuki?! How did you get here?!" Botan hurried over rather quickly, surprisingly agile in the crowd of ogres still streaming through the long hallway. Her bright pink eyes inspected me for a moment before she sighed. I blinked a few times, trying to remember that I wasn't supposed to remember this place or her. She looked over her shoulder and back at me. "Hiei unlocked your memories, didn't he?"

I stared at her for a moment, wide eyed, trying to still maintain the illusion that I couldn't remember anything. She only sent me a knowing smile and I caved, slumping my shoulders in defeat. "How could you tell?" I asked, closing my eyes for a second to silently apologize to Hiei and Shuichi-kun. Hopefully they wouldn't get into trouble over this.

"You weren't freaking out over the ogres. You were also staring rather intently at Koenma's door, so I was sure that you still remembered something. Is there something you need from Koenma?" I looked at the double doors, still finding them a little much. They also seemed to add a little hesitation in me as well. I wanted to ask Koenma so many questions, but at the same time they wanted to tumble into the back of my mind and never be answered. I finally nodded after a small pause.

"I have a few questions that I wanted to ask him." I muttered, smiling slightly at the girl. She was a little less bubbly than the ferry girl I had seen the last time, which was awesome, but I could already tell that she cared for everyone that came into her path. The way she gently guided me to the door kind of reinforced my view of her.

"I know for a fact that Koenma has been researching rather hard. He might have found something odd in your file." Botan raised her hand a little to stop the flow of questions that almost sprung forth. "I'm not entirely sure what it was. However, Koenma has been reading a lot of books and looking up very old records, so rest assured he is trying everything he can to help. I'm sure if you ask, he will answer."

She opened the door only a couple inches and we both took a peak. Teetering piles of paper commanded the attention of a toddler, his hands working overtime to pull papers from the stack and stamp them. Next to him, an ogre stood reading quietly to the babe, every once and a while rereading a paragraph at the toddlers command. It wasn't until Botan and I realized that we were leaning on the door that we were discovered. The door swung open without any warning. We landed in a heap of limbs, both of us groaning a little from the force of the impact.

"Botan! What is the meaning of this!?" The toddler and the ogre had both frantically reached out to keep the papers from falling all over the place due to the vibration that had echoed through the air because of the surprisingly heavy door. Botan and I looked up when a couple of the papers did manage to fall, floating gently around our heads as we met the toddler's eyes. From the fire burning within them, I could tell we were in trouble.

The blunette jumped up from her spot slightly over me and bowed hastily, her face in an awkward grimace. I slowly lifted myself off the floor as she chuckled nervously. "We're very sorry, Koenma, sir." She looked over her shoulder at me and her face split into a nervous grin. Next thing I knew she was suddenly pushing me forward, effectively throwing me under the bus as the toddler looked at me in surprise. "Mizuki-chan just has a couple questions for you." With that said and gotten out of the way, Botan quickly exited the room.

I couldn't help but look over my shoulder to send her retreating back a very well deserved glare. Turning around, I found myself face to face with the teenaged Koenma I had met all those evenings ago. I backed up at once, letting out a small squeak over the close proximity. Brown eyes narrowed in a somewhat analytical but curious manner, he stared me down. I couldn't really think of where to start with him looking at me that way. I ended up spending more time looking around the room then meeting his eyes as I racked my brain for the words that I had rehearsed in my head once I had finally gotten the two boys to agree to bring me here.

"You remember me?" It was more statement than question and I nodded slowly, hesitantly. He sighed, turning to sit at his desk. "I'm assuming Hiei had something to do with this? He's the only person who could've given you your memories so quickly."

"Yes. I asked him to." Koenma nodded and sat slowly in his seat, motioning for me to sit in a comfy chair in front of his desk. I did not question where it had come from, choosing instead to sit down. "I came here because I have a couple questions."

"I see…" He shuffled a couple of papers and books on his desk, avoiding my gaze for a moment. "Jorge, get some tea and some cakes brought here right away." He suddenly said, turning to look haughtily towards the ogre standing in the corner. Jorge snapped to attention and took off out of the doors, yelling as he did. "Alright, go ahead."

"You don't trust your workers to keep the information to themselves?" I asked, looking at the boy in front of me in surprise. He sighed wearily, but did not answer my question. I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering if I'd get an answer out of him some other time. He waved at me to carry on, impatient to get the ball rolling. I squared my shoulders. "Am I human?"

He looked just as surprised as I felt inside. That hadn't been the question I had wanted to ask first, but judging by the guilty look on his face it was the right question. He took a moment of silence. "I may not be sure, but at the moment, yes you are." He spoke slowly, as if looking for the words to make me understand. "You see, in your blood is something very rare… Even in the spirit world, you'd only find a few. What I have learned is from legends and myths that have no real concrete evidence that points to your predicament, however in some legends there is a grain of truth. In your blood, I think, is the DNA formula of a very rare species of demon."

"Demon?" I sank further into my chair, having slid down it throughout his explanation. To have Shuichi-kun's and Hiei's predictions confirmed was shocking and a little scary. I suddenly looked at him intently, watching his reaction. "…H-Is that why I'm seeing things? Because of my blood?"

Koenma nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing at me from his seat. "What do you see?" He asked, watching my face for something. Possibly a twitch to see if I was lying about anything. I cleared my throat uncomfortably at the thought. Does he not trust me to tell him the truth? I mean he's the spirit world's prince, I don't have to be afraid of what he says or thinks of my craziness.

"Lately people have looked…different, inhuman. It's mostly when I'm not focusing on them, but when I am the markings, wings, horns, whatever I saw at the time disappear and I'm left wondering if I saw it at all. I've been so afraid of accidently blurting something out that I've been distancing myself…" I muttered the last bit solemnly, feeling the stress of something new, of change, weigh down on me. For all my life I had thought myself barely normal; always on my own, but not quite as different as everyone thought. That all came crashing down the moment I went with the imposter into the forest.

A horrible thought came over me as Koenma tried to reassure me that everything would be okay. It had known to use Shuichi as bait to lure me into the forest. But how? Had it been watching me enough to see my unrequited crush? An angered blush came on my face as I suddenly turned burning blue eyes on the little lord who stopped talking, wondering if he'd said something wrong. _'Maybe she didn't want to be watched by his team?' _

"Do you know how long they've been watching me?" I asked, watching as his confused expression turn to sheepish one in less than a minute. "How long?"

"I've learned from my sources that they've been hanging around your school and your neighborhood for a little over three months before the first attack…It's why I had my spirit detectives watching the school and your neighborhood; I thought they were trying to go after my team. Yusuke's mother lives in the same building as you." He grimacing somewhat. "We didn't know that he was going after you; it's why he took us by surprise."

I stared at him a moment before standing, closing my eyes to steady the stream of questions I still had. He had answered the most important ones, but the answers had left behind even more questions. From what I heard from Shuichi-kun and Hiei, he was going to be forthcoming until he actually had the answers himself. "Thank you for answering my questions. I'll let you get back to what you were working on before." I muttered, bowing my head in his direction.

"Please let Hiei and Kurama know that I've assigned them and the others in charge of you and your friends' safety." He called out. When I turned around, he had already gone back to his work, scrutinizing the innards of a much worn leather bound book. I nodded, even though he couldn't see me and walked out. I waved goodbye to Jorge as he passed me.

'_Maybe Hiei and Shuichi-kun are still waiting for me at the portal.'_ I thought, ignoring the looks of even more ogres walking past. It was hard to imagine that I had actually forgotten the event that had first gotten me into this mess. It was harder still now that I was dealing with something far worse. How could I have demon blood in me? Why was it just now coming into effect? What was different now than earlier in my life?

"Everything alright, Tanami-san?" Shuichi-kun's voice penetrated my thoughts and I looked up, slightly surprised to be standing in front of them so soon. I must have been deep into I thoughts if I hadn't even realized I was already near them. I prided herself for being a little more observant then everyone else, so it stunned me a little that this problem was affecting me so much.

"I suppose…" My face spilt into a smile weakly and stepped a little closer to the portal that stood near them. It gave off an unpleasant feeling, the portal, even by being close in proximity. Both boys lifted an eyebrow as they watched my face for signs of what could've possibly passed between me and the spirit world prince. "Just something I wasn't really expecting is all."

"Would you like to talk about it, Tanami-san?" I looked up, but shook my head quickly. He eyed me for a full minute, looking for signs of gods-knows-what, but chose to let it go for now. Next to him, Hiei stared at me from his stance half in and half out of the portal. He had already been half in it when he noticed I was near them. I'm guessing Shuichi-kun's slight interrogation had halted him. "Shall we go then? Koenma has kindly placed the portal near Genkai's dojo."

At that, Hiei let out a small snort of amusement. Clearly, they had somehow talked the little god into doing so, they're mischievous exchange of glances proving that point as Hiei quickly sped through the portal. I followed closely behind, slightly anxious to both see the mentor that according to Shuichi-kun had helped them through some tough times and to get away from the news Koenma had given me.

When we finally made it to the end of the portal, we learned that Mr. High and Mighty had taken revenge on their actions and placed the portal at least twenty-five feet in the air. They looked back at me, but I was too busy staring at the ground that was much too far away. If Koenma was correct, I was getting my demon powers, but at the moment I don't think I'd be able land on my feet safely. It was also getting extremely hard to breath.

Hiei landed a somewhat hard blow to my back, making me cough up air. Shuichi-kun and I sent him almost identical glares, but he ignored it. He chose instead to stare at the fast approaching rustling coming from under the trees foliage. The green eyed man candy standing next to me turned his attention at a flash of green and blue that erupted and disappeared behind the trees. They could hear the infectious laughter rolling even up there, as the two running on the ground got louder and louder.

"Yo! Kurama!" A break in the foliage showed arms waving at them. They could see Kuwabara running closely behind Yusuke; the two wore matching grins on their faces as their running legs brought them closer to the portal hanging over them. Shuichi-kun sighed as a small grin lifted the corners of his mouth. Hiei looked a little annoyed, but underneath he seemed to be holding back a grin of his own.

"It's Yusuke and Kuwabara." Shuichi-kun muttered for my sake, but he didn't need to. I could see them clear as day, their grins brightening the way. I could see that Kuwabara was struggling to keep up with Yusuke and that Yusuke was laughing his happy ass off. I could even see the temple that looked farther away from us, the sloping roofs glinting in the gentle sun. I could even see the girls, though this is where it went a little fuzzy, standing at a doorway. They were obviously wondering where the two boys had run off to.

I sighed as the boys appeared in the clearing Koenma had rudely chosen as the drop off point. I'm pretty sure my sight was getting a hell of a lot better, considering my glasses were falling off my nose and I had been looking over the lens. It could be that Koenma's research held more than a grand of sand. I could be a demon, after all….

"Tanami-san?" I looked up slowly, meeting the slightly concerned green eyes of my crush. He had one of his hands held out to, as if to help me up. Next to him, Hiei looked at me, slightly confused as to why it took me so long to respond.

'_If I was a demon, what would he say?'_ I asked myself, before allowing my hand to rest in Shuichi-kun's. He pulled me to him, wrapping an arm around my waist. I looked up slightly surprised, but he smiled reassuringly. He allowed me to continue holding his hand as he leaned slightly out of the portal. I realized his intent and tightened my grip on his hand. I heard a whoosh of sound and knew we were flying toward the ground.

Chaos suddenly ensured, explosions bouncing all over the place. I screamed as I was ripped from his arms and the others. I felt another pair of strong arms wrap around me, but I knew it wasn't Hiei. I could see the red eyed demon battling his way toward me as I was pulled in the opposite direction. I tried wiggling away from my captor, but he just let out strings of laughter at what his deep voice stated was pathetic attempts of freedom.

I could see the others through the smoke, their angered faces reaching me across what looked like a battlefield we'd seen in our history books. I discreetly looked to my right, towards the temple. I could see the girls, running into the temple itself, but other boys ran past them into the trees. One suddenly jumped into the air and exploded forward, his speed allowing him to almost reach the battle in a manner of minutes.

My captor suddenly looked towards the temple and my struggling started again, this time with renewed strength. He looked down at me in slight surprise, but then he was jumping away from the trees as they erupted into action. I watched in disbelief as vines and tree limbs reached for the man demon holding me and tried to hold him still. A tingling in the back of my mind sparked suddenly and I looked towards the others. They stood around the battlefield, each one having already defeated the demons' henchmen.

"Give us the girl, lad. Ye won't get hurt if ye do." I looked up at the floating red head glaring at the demon using me as a human shield from the vines. The foliage suddenly wrapped around me and forcibly ripped me away from the demon. I made no sound as it placed me in front of Shuichi-kun, hearing a crunch behind me. I didn't dare look, choosing instead to let my head rest on the green eyed boys shoulder.

If what Koenma said was true, there would be more coming after me. I needed to distance myself from all of them before someone seriously got hurt.


End file.
